Monday, October 12, 2009

Trouble on Highway 65

Friday and Saturday I went with a van-load of my potluck friends (we've gone somewhere every fall for about 30 years!)to Brown County, Indiana. Friday was a steady rain all day. We made good time in the morning, ate lunch at Cracker Barrel just south of Indianapolis. We got about 5 miles down the road after lunch, and suddenly heard the foreboding sound of a flat tire. Our driver called her highway assistance number and spent about 15 minutes on the phone arranging for someone to come out and change the tire. Soon "Mike" called and said he just had to change his baby's diaper and he would be right out. He arrived and cranked and shook and pulled for awhile, and then told us he couldn't get the spare tire out of the van. So he left. Another phone call to roadside assistance, and a tow truck was on the way. We had five women in the van however, so next they arranged for a cab to come and pick us up. All the time the rain was coming down and cars and trucks were zooming past us. "Junior" came and took 3 of us with him back to town to Firestone. Another "Mike" showed up with a tow truck and finally, after the 2 1/2 hour ordeal, we were all at the Firestone. We wasted another 30 minutes because the Firestone dealer forgot to print out our ticket so the men in the shop didn't know they needed to attend to us. Finally, they attempted to pull the van into their shop...dead van! Apparently we had run the flashers too long. So a new tire, new battery, and 1 1/2 hours later we left Firestone and got on our way. We arrived at our beautiful bed and breakfast in time to eat dinner and see "Driving Miss Daisy" in the small local live theater. If you have read this entire long story, you know how I felt by the end of that long day! (Saturday was beautiful weather and Brown County was a cute little place to spend the day.)

5 comments:

Mim said...

What an experience you had. Am glad to hear that the you came through the highway dangers unscathed. We saw "Driving Miss Daisy" on TV long ago and since then Lynn calls me "Miss Daisy" and himself "Hoke." Of course, if that were the real situation, he wouldn't admit it--we have had a good time about it. A restaurant in Madison serves "Miss Daisy's Casserole" and Lynn loves it. It's a glorified macaroni/tomato/hamburger. I should dig out the recipe and surprise him.

Cleve said...

A very funny account - to the reader, not the victims! Glad you made it safely and in time to enjoy yourselves. Did you eat at the Hob Nob restaurant? Kathleen's Aunt Ada Jones demonstrates weaving on a genuine spinning wheel in Brown County's Historical Museum -- in authentic 1890's costume. I'm sure you girls had a blast and hopefully hit the peak of leaves/color.

Eric - Retta said...

Sounds like a good time was had by all despite the van drama. Glad you were all able to get away.

Alice said...

Sounds as if it was a nightmare when it happened, but it is something you all will talk about for years. Glad it turned out better the next day.

We went to Brown county one year and there was such a crowd of people we could hardly get through town.

Nog Blog said...

We didn't eat at Hob Nob. As Aunt Alice said the streets were full and the lines to eat were long. The historical museum didn't open til 1 pm, although I did see a woman in costume setting up - amazing if that was Kathleen's aunt! One exciting and scary thing we saw was a horse and carriage ride and the horse was going berserk..bucking, kneeling, backing up in traffic. We watched for a few minutes til the poor girl driving him got him under control. It was very tense with the crowd all watching and nervous. Two passengers in the carriage survived unhurt, but must have been shaken. I got bored real quick walking around all the shops and bought a book at a used Christian bookstore and went to a warm place and read for a couple of hours. Now that was fun!