I woke up this morning with that “uh-oh” feeling. You know, the one you just can’t shake? I had an eerie sense of foreboding for the first part of the day. As a mom of four teenagers, frankly I was wondering which one was going to get in some trouble. I tried to get some work done but … not much was feeling right.
Along about 2 pm, my husband called. I knew this was the call … I picked up the phone and didn’t bother with pleasantries, I flat out said “What’s wrong?”
Turns out my radar was a little off. He explained to me that he was going out of town, out on the road to pick up some mutual friends who had gotten stranded while traveling to Talladega. “Wha … ?” Well, Bo’s truck burned up, and the camper they were pulling burnt up, and … I’m going to get them". “OK ! just be careful …”
Of course for the rest of the afternoon I’m crazed with curitosity, and hubby finally comes in about 7 pm. He’d gone to Forest, picked up Bo’s wife Diamond and brought her back to Jackson while Bo waited for the wrecker. He’s headed back to the shop yard, where Bo and the wrecker are bringing back the rig. So I offer to go with him.
We wait, and wait. Finally I see the lights of the wrecker coming off 51 Highway. Ruh-roh … an 18-wheeler! Both the Dodge pickup (what’s left of it) and the camper are on the wrecker. This is one burned-up mess ! I get bits and pieces of the story from Bo and Hubby as the wrecker driver manuvers to drop the wreckage on the yard.
Now, it’s got to be a bad-gosh-awful feeling, to have left out on such a jolly trip, to have another motorist pull aside you and holler “mister ! you’re truck’s on fire!”
Bo says he looked in the mirror, saw smoke billowing out, and pulled over. The left rear tire was burning. Unfortunately, this is also the location under the bed of the truck where the fuel neck for the gas tank is located. Bo turns his fire extinguisher on the blaze. Every time it goes out, it flames back up. Other Talladega-goers pull up to help. All empty their fire extinguishers on the blaze to no avail.
About this time Bo thinks , well the hell with the truck ! Save the camper. So he goes to pull the latch to let the goose-neck free of the the “fifth-wheel”… Uh. no go. Somehow the bastige is locked up. Another burly passer-by attempts to hold the latch down while Bo drives the truck away … nope, not letting go.
The only thing to do is retreat the side of the interstate and see a 2005 gooseneck camper trailer and Dodge pickup truck melt into crispy bits.
I am so very thankful that Bo and Diamond are OK. One silver lining: when he called the camper place they made an offer to him to take a brand-new camper and pickup truck to Talladega in the morning. On loan, free of charge. I think they will go; after all, they are out tickets and days off for it. Only thing … .Diamond had to go buy clothes for Bo, all his burnt up; he’s a burly guy and hard to fit … but they made the best of it.
So, maybe my week doesn’t look so bad after all !