You Just Can't Make Up This Kind of Stuff...

So, I’m feeling much better. We had three (3) goals for today, in this order:

1. Set up cabins for arrivals. David was on it while I took care of some other business.
2. Go check on the mares. Kachina has started locking herself in one of the paddocks…she goes in to eat the clover, manages to push the gate shut, and voila! Trapped horse.
3. Tile the second bathroom in the house that we recently tiled the first bathroom in.

Things did not go quite as panned. David & Hanker went to Dream Catcher to set it up. I get a call. “Please come pick me up at Dream Catcher”, he says.

“Why, what’s wrong with the truck?”

“Um, it is currently wrapped around a tree.”

“Okey doke – be right there.” (I felt bad later than I didn’t ask if he was okay, but thought, hey, he’s talking, this is a good sign.)

I grab the tow straps and Max and off we go. David’s sitting at the picnic table – clearly shaken.

“Where’s the truck?”

“Look down the hill.”

(Okay, Dream Catcher’s driveway is TOTALLY FLAT, so I’m thinking okkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayy, what hill…)

“What hill?”

“Over there” (David points down the road that continues past the driveway.)

Yep, sure enough, there’s the truck. It doesn’t look good.

“How the hell did you manage that???” (Please note – I am laughing because this is too bizarre.)

“I didn’t. I wasn’t in it.”

Now I need a full scale explanation. So here is what happened.

David goes into Dream Catcher. He is in there for 5 minutes when he hears a loud crash. He comes out, the truck is gone. He’s thinking – damn it! Someone stole my truck! Now he’s more worried because Hanker was in the truck; Hanker, his boy, his buddy, his yellow lab mix who rolls in poop and tries to become brown. Please also note that yesterday was the 3rd anniversary of the day Charlie, his best dog ever, was intentionally run down on My Mountain Road, so “Hanker Day” right next to “Charlie Day” – this would be bad.

Well, to make a long story short, David left Hanker in the truck, with the A/C on, as he has done a million times before. Hanker lays down on the seat and waits. Now we don’t know if a deer, a bear, or what passed in front of him, but apparently Hanker got excited. Or maybe he just thought “Hey, here’s my chance! I’s always wanted to drives, but they’s never lets me.” (Insert Hanker’s voice).

Hanker knocked the truck out of park and into drive. The truck moved forward, gaining enough momentum to cross over a small ring of rocks (we don’t know if Hanker was actually accelerating at this point or not…) and then wham! Made a perfect path between two rows of trees and doggone nearly made it out onto the gravel road. Except for that one, solitary, EXTREMELY LARGE oak tree, which the truck collided with, with sufficient force that (a) it got shifted back into park, AND (b) the emergency brake was on (it’s on the floor – so we're thinking Hanker hit the floor after hitting the gear shift) BUT, to Ford’s credit, was still running when David got to it. Hanker was shaken up but fine.

Oh, if you could have seen the guilty look on this dog’s face. It was pitiful. The truck? Yeah, it may be totaled. The tow driver said he’s seen things totaled for less damage and it is a 2004, but it only has 50K on it.

Now, all evidence to the contrary, we’re pretty fond of that truck…so we’ll see what the adjuster says tomorrow.

Needless to say, tiling got a later start than anticipated. David hooked up the wet saw, and the pump wasn’t working. I told him to take my Pathfinder and go check the mares. In the meanwhile, I took the pump apart and fixed it. By the time he got back, I had 2/3 of the floor laid out and edge pieces cut. It was still a long day – 5 hours. Floor looks great.

Man, we sure do hate when our dogs try to drive…but this will always go down in history as the day Hanker totaled Daddy’s truck. It just never ends…

This Week at The Swan

At the Swan Drive In:

Showing Friday and Saturday, July 16th and 17th, Double Feature-Two Movies for the price of one 9PM "Inception", Rated PG13 Starring Leonardo DiCaprio 11:15PM "Eclipse", Rated PG13

Showing Sunday thru Thursday, July 18th thru 22nd, One Show Only 9PM "Inception", Rated PG13 Starring Leonardo DiCapr...io