(no subject)
on sunday, my new friend meredith and i set out to see ironwood national monument. this is a little known hiking spot slightly northwest of tuscon. i found out about this place in a book called "best hikes with dogs in arizona". i wanted to take oscar, so this was a good book choice. the directions to ironwood were a little sketchy, but after some driving around we seemed to be on the right track. now driving around ironwood means driving around dirt roads. my scion was not so pleased with this development, but was handling it as best that could be expected. after some debate we turned down this other smaller, narrower dirt road that we hypothesized would lead us to our trailhead. this was a mistake.
this smaller, unmarked, narrower dirt road came to a crossroads with a wash about 1/2 mile down the road. immediately i decided my scion and my cargo would not be crossing this wash and making it to the next part of the road. so, ignorantly i drove into the wash and attempted to turn around. this was mistake number two.
stuck. fucking stuck in this sandy wash. after much efforts, mostly on meredith's behalf (as she had to push because my car is a stick) we came to the conclusion that we would not be able to get my car out ourselves. i resolute to call a tow truck, and explaining my location was very difficult, but help was on the way!
after an hour or so, we walk back to the main road to wait for the tow truck driver to arrive. he arrives, and decides to back down the road we were stuck on. unfortunately neither of us went with him, nor did we warn him about the wash. this was the third mistake. his truck gets stuck in the wash.
after another hour or so, carl finally gets his truck out of the wash by doing some very fancy manuevering with his truck. in getting stuck and getting out carl completely tore up the sandy area that i would be forced to drive through to get back out. carl is unable to use his truck to get me out (due to the angle and his fear of getting stuck again). just when we are about to give up, this awesomely strange guy drives up on his four wheeler. the guy has a full-on trash stash and full-on fatigues, and a shotgun strapped to the front of his vehicle. instead of offering to help, the awesomely weird guy proceeds to sit back and comment and laugh at our predicament.
"is this the worst job you've ever had?" i ask carl.
"do you really want to know?" carl laughs. we laugh. "yes." he says very seriously.
carl finally asks for this guy's help, and after much argument between the two of them over strategy, they begin to push me out. finally, after the third or forth try my car breaks free. after hours of being stuck, it was such a great moment. then, meredith and oscar and i proceed home, without ever having done any hiking at all.
"well," i said, "if we are not always friends at least you will never forget me or this trip."
"that's true." she laughed.
i needed some adventure in my life, but this wasn't exactly what i had in mind. would you believe me if i told you that wasn't the worst thing that happened to me last weekend?
this smaller, unmarked, narrower dirt road came to a crossroads with a wash about 1/2 mile down the road. immediately i decided my scion and my cargo would not be crossing this wash and making it to the next part of the road. so, ignorantly i drove into the wash and attempted to turn around. this was mistake number two.
stuck. fucking stuck in this sandy wash. after much efforts, mostly on meredith's behalf (as she had to push because my car is a stick) we came to the conclusion that we would not be able to get my car out ourselves. i resolute to call a tow truck, and explaining my location was very difficult, but help was on the way!
after an hour or so, we walk back to the main road to wait for the tow truck driver to arrive. he arrives, and decides to back down the road we were stuck on. unfortunately neither of us went with him, nor did we warn him about the wash. this was the third mistake. his truck gets stuck in the wash.
after another hour or so, carl finally gets his truck out of the wash by doing some very fancy manuevering with his truck. in getting stuck and getting out carl completely tore up the sandy area that i would be forced to drive through to get back out. carl is unable to use his truck to get me out (due to the angle and his fear of getting stuck again). just when we are about to give up, this awesomely strange guy drives up on his four wheeler. the guy has a full-on trash stash and full-on fatigues, and a shotgun strapped to the front of his vehicle. instead of offering to help, the awesomely weird guy proceeds to sit back and comment and laugh at our predicament.
"is this the worst job you've ever had?" i ask carl.
"do you really want to know?" carl laughs. we laugh. "yes." he says very seriously.
carl finally asks for this guy's help, and after much argument between the two of them over strategy, they begin to push me out. finally, after the third or forth try my car breaks free. after hours of being stuck, it was such a great moment. then, meredith and oscar and i proceed home, without ever having done any hiking at all.
"well," i said, "if we are not always friends at least you will never forget me or this trip."
"that's true." she laughed.
i needed some adventure in my life, but this wasn't exactly what i had in mind. would you believe me if i told you that wasn't the worst thing that happened to me last weekend?