My Saturday adventure

So, early Saturday morning, I went out to do bee observation. I went to my colleague's site first, got my data, and walked back to my car, happy - thinking to myself, "I should be done by noon today!"

Never, ever think that kind of thing. Apparently it tempts fate.

So I started backing out. Earlier on, I would just barely pull onto the path my colleague had brush-hogged as I was worried about bogging down, but then he told me - oh, I drive through there all the time hauling equipment and stuff, it's FINE.

So I had pulled in farther. Now, you have to understand, the brush-hogged path parallels the fenceline, which parallels the dirt road that leads in to his place. The dirt road is a good 3 feet lower than the brushhogged path. And with all the rain we've had (seriously, I wish I had my camera Thursday - half of the back parking lot at my building was flooded), there's been some washing out of the soil. But I had navigated it successfully many times before, by pulling in the opposite direction and swerving around it.

Well, Saturday, the washout had got worse, and also, my mind was on how I was going to do the sampling at the second site, so I wasn't really paying attention. First my rear wheel hit the washout and I thought, "Wow, that was quite a buck" and then as I was thinking that my front wheel (the drive wheel) hit it. And I was stuck.

I jumped out and walked around my car.  The front passenger side wheel was down in the hole, the rear driver side wheel was actually up off the ground a little. This was pretty much what I said:



Okay, I said a few unladylike words as well, but I mostly circled the car going, "no no no no no no no no no no"

First, I tried putting it in reverse and GUNNING it. Nope, nothing, the wheels just spun. Then I tried rocking it back and forth, nothing. I think that probably just dug it down harder. I put stuff (all I had was the lid off of a plastic tub - I couldn't even find any branches to use) under the wheel - no joy.

Now, normally, I'd run up to my colleague's house, and either get him or his wife for help. But I had waved to them as they were heading off, and it looked like they were loaded up for camping. So that was not a possibility for help.

Fortunately, I had my cell phone. I carry it not just in case I get hurt in the field, but also use it as a timer when doing my observations - so I'm keeping it well-charged up these days. So I thought: who is the best person to call? And then I thought of a couple at church who are ranchers. Surely ranchers have dealt with this kind of thing before? And they have a big ol' pickup truck that would have the power to pop me out.

So I called them. Well, they were already on their way to a cutting-horse competition, but the woman said she'd get me help - she called ANOTHER couple, people I might not have thought of, and they called me for directions. And they came out. And Jon (the man) knew just what to do - he brought a shovel after I mentioned the car was in a hole. First, he dug out the hole a bit more, reshaping the back of it into a ramp. Then he crawled under the car and hooked his tow-rope to the frame. ("These newer cars," he said, "you don't dare tow from the bumper; you'll rip it off." I didn't know much about getting a car out of a hole but I knew that much....)

Then, he had me aggressively straighten the drive wheels (they had gotten turned sharply to the left). I would not have thought to do that but that was probably necessary to getting out. Then, he pulled out slowly and had me reverse it. Shirley stood beside both cars and called out directions....and at first, my car resisted, but then with a bit more gas, it rolled up and out of the hole.

Oh my gosh. It's been a long time since I was so grateful for something. I walked around the car and looked at it, I couldn't SEE any damage (other than some mud and grass stuck on to it). One of my students got her truck stuck in the same hole, but worse, and she broke the axle - but then again, her truck was 30 years old and she called her boyfriend to help her pop it out, and I kind of think he didn't know what he was doing.

I thanked them profusely for their help. I have a hard time asking for help sometimes, and a few times in the past when I've asked, the person I asked pooped out on me, so I'm always relieved when I can get good help when I need it.

My car seemed fine. Jon and Shirley had me drive it out ahead of them just to be sure it was okay and wasn't going to poop out somewhere on the road. Nope, fine.

It was after 11 am at that point (so much for "done by noon") so I decided to run home, grab a quick lunch (and a bathroom break) and then go to the second field site.

Got out to the field site fine. Jon and Shirley called me while I was out there just to verify my car was still fine, and to let me know to call them again if I had further problems. But I didn't; I successfully finished the fieldwork. I don't even think the alignment on the car got messed up; I did the old trick of getting on a straight stretch of road and taking my hands off the wheel for a few seconds to see if it pulled to either side and it didn't. So I was super lucky, and next time I go out to that site I am parking near the entrance and walking. Even if it's hot out.