truck left us stranded but we had a comfy safety net
saturday afternoon had running down to wimberley, it was hot outside and we were anxious to take a dip in the blanco river. we had just gained acces to our private river park a few hours earlier. then, mechanical failure. the powerstroke diesel failed and we were dead in the water, in this case water is a metaphor for the busy highway intersection (290w/12). we called tripple A, we know the routine. they said 45 mins till we would be rescued. thirty minutes later....
mr police finally arrives on the scene and he's not very impressed how we are in the middle of the busiest intersection dripping springs has to offer. I assure him that tripple A will be on the scene any moment, he laughs. "tripple A?! you'll be lucky if they get here in three HOURS!" he offered to help me push the truck to the shoulder, which is slightly UP hill, my turn to laugh. "this thing is 8 thousand pounds! you look like you've been working out, I'm willing to try it if you will...." he paused to think and concluded it wouldn't be safe unless we had another patrol car to stop traffic. I was happy we were not going to be crushed by the truck rolling backwards over us as we tried to push it up hill.
he set his timer, said if my tripple A truck was not on the scene in 20 mins, he was calling the local tow guy, he wanted his intersection cleared so he could go home. we ended up calling the local tow guy, tripple A finally admitted their truck was on the way to san antonio... and we were next; really.
omg that thing is a beast! so there we were, in dripping springs late saturday afternoon and all the rental car places are closed. I called a friend for a favor. he dropped everything and drove to dripping springs to take us home. the rescue hospitality didn't end there, our dinner plans were now trashed as well so he invited us over and fed us... it was the best rescue ever! except for kat, she went home due to some work emergency, her weekend was completely flushed away.
while I was treated to a home cooked meal and a bit of red wine, evening conversation turned to the failed blanco river soak. "we would like to go see your blanco river park tomorrow if you still want to go", they offered. I was now w/o transporation (530i bmw went in the shop on friday!) this sounded like a great idea to me. sunday came and they drove the kids and I all the way down to wimberley! we had a small picnic there on the blanco. after we looked at our ... barn...
yep, barn! kat's new (to us) victorian barn. trust me, it'll all come together. it needs a front door and I'll put a small porch and window on that big sore spot on the front. it's very well built.
however, I'm not sure the house can be fixed.... but we got it due to it's close proximity to the blanco river park! if/when we get the truck back, I can probably just tie a chain to the front and pull the whole thing down.
our acreage in wimberley that is near the town center is on the market for $88k, includes the "storage buildings" with solar power. click link above for info.
our private blanco river park:
there was good water flow even in this extreme drought.
I could see some deeper water a bit down stream, but I forgot my water shoes. so I sat on a shaded rock and had some bock, shiner that is, cold, cold beer. the park has a big grassy lawn area and the river is lined with beautiful cypress trees.
click here for larger panoramic version of the river scene
1964 Airstream Overlander kitchen renovation:
it took a whole lot of wrestling, some sweat and even a bit of blood, but I got that furnace out! it's not a good idea to use an old rusty gas furnace if you want to keep on living. we gained valuable cabinet space in the process. I also removed the oven and four burner cooktop, easily doubling our storage. the sink goes back in after I finish the new countertops. .
we chose a smev cooktop once again. not only is it much safer and efficient, it sits flush with the countertop so we gain work area when not using the burners (two of them)