Titantium Chef - 'Trip Report'

“It is fast approaching five, and I could not imagine how anything else could have gone wrong that day. I do not have any stories to tell about cars being caught in a snowdrift, but we all had our car trouble, nevertheless. I think Rabbitman had us all beat, but I had my share of it also. For those of you who do not live in the West Tennessee area, we had had a monsoon the last few days. I think I remember hearing about eleven inches of rain over a three-day period.

About Tuesday, my car problems hit, driving into work sometime before seven, and the car went dead. I managed to roll into a small parking lot out in front of some local barbeque place, just before the Oasis Convenience Store and Dollar General. It was pouring down rain, but I sat there for a minute, trying to think. Turn the key, and try to start it again, but not much. In fact, apparently found on roadside dead.

The nearest place to call or get repairs would not be open for another hour, so I put on my Vols jacket and grab my laptop. I cannot believe I am walking down the road, on the way to work apparently, but holding out my thumb seems to make sense. The name I don’t recall, but he stopped and gave me a ride to work. My first phone call was Barry, the guy in Hollow Rock who does the wrecker stuff. Great guy and worked in good to my plan to get my truck to Melvin, who does best mechanic work around.

Again, it is fast approaching five, and I could not imagine how anything else could have gone wrong that day. The truck was still in the shop, waiting on a part that was supposed to be trucked in back on Thursday morning. Somehow the Dodge dealership pulled a ’97 number off the computer, even though my truck is a ’98. Two trips to Paris it was, driving 70mph on 20mph roads, but finally, I was on my way. Goose had talked to Ms. TownDawg because he was wondering where I was, since my original plan was to drive up Friday morning sometime with a pop-up trailer camper and do a tailgate mixer over at the local RV campground.

"Goose, I will get there. Expect me about 8, or maybe nine, but I will get there.”

Goose, Skullcap, Scooby-Doo, Inchworm,and Jerbear were at Grundy Forest, parked up in the lot and packed the half-mile to the CCC camp. They had a nice fire going as I walked up into the camp carrying a sleeping bag, nothing else: just a sleeping bag.

“I told you I would make it.”

TNman will have to help me out on this, but one of the rangers there had it in for us, or at least for Jerbear. I do not know why exactly, but this same ranger told Kelly and Rabbitman that his house was not a check-in station. Twenty-four hours on the premises does not mean open for business twenty-four, the parking lots get locked up at dark-thirty which Friday came about 6.

“So where’s your stuff?”

"I have the sleeping bag.”

“I see that, but where’s your stuff?”

"In my car. I asked a local guy if he would mind if I parked my car overnight in front or on the side of his house somewhere." No problem, he told me, and then added, "besides, that ranger's an idiot."”

“Anyone else got a 'trip report' they want to contribute?”

“We came, we met, we walked, we ate, we slept, we left.
It was good.”