My Brother Cursed Me

My brother put a curse on me last weekend after we attended a birthday party for his wife at their home. There had been a lot of rain during the day and I turned a little wide going into his driveway. The lawn was very soft and my heavy Dodge Cummins Diesel truck left a deep rut in his yard. He was a good sport about it, or so I thought.

Last Friday, I took a day off work so the wife and I could go to the NC State Fair in the morning and then leave for a weekend camping trip about mid day. She wanted to see the flower and art exhibits. We decided to get breakfast at the fair because the food is always great, right?

We got biscuits at a church run place but they were cold and not very good. Later we got an apple fritter and a fried apple pie. I think $8 or so for both. The apple fritter was apple slices on a stick dipped in pancake batter and deep fried. It was pretty bad. Same with the fried apple pie. As we tossed them both in the garbage I thought I heard a snicker.

We left the fair and got hotdogs from a sidewalk vendor in front of the local Lowes Home Improvement store. Now that was some good food.

We got home about 11:00AM and prepared to leave on our camping trip. Like I have done for the last 14 years, I backed through the yard slightly downhill to the camper shelter. I hooked up to the camper, put the truck in 4WD and drove toward the asphalt driveway. I only got about 10 feet. That was strange. So I backed up and tried it again with the same result.

Anyone with a 4WD truck knows that when you get one stuck, rocking back and forth usually does not help things. However since I was on a slight incline I was able to back up to the gravel area where I store the RV. I tried several times to get a "runnin' start" from the gravel area that I hoped would get me to the asphalt driveway. Every try was leaving new trails in the freshly reseeded yard. I thought I heard a snicker again.

I didn't think I needed much of a tow and the driveway was only about 15 feet away. But with no other vehicles at home to give me a tug I called my brother hoping he might be working in the area with his 3/4 ton truck. As I described my dilemma to him he made the same snicker I had been hearing all day and I realized my brother had gotten his revenge for the previous weekend. He was not in the area, or so he said.

I've had great experience with East Coast Towing and I knew they had the equipment to get me out of any situation. I told them I had 50 feet of Dodge Cummins Diesel truck and camper weighing just a little over 20,000 pounds stuck in my back yard 15 feet from an asphalt driveway. I heard the snicker again.

In about 45 minutes Mike from East Coast Towing drove up with a late model Dodge Cummins Diesel 3500 wrecker. We surveyed my situation and I said "At least I'm being pulled out by a Dodge Diesel and not a Ford". He looked at me with a sly grin and said "If you were driving a Ford you wouldn't be stuck." Ouch! Most men are very brand loyal when it comes to trucks and like to give each other grief in a friendly way. We talked for a while and he was a die hard Ford man.

On a side note, I once was pulled over for doing around 65 in a 45 MPH zone by a motorcycle cop while I was riding "Burgy" the 650 Suzuki Burgman super scooter. We started talking motor cycles and eventually diesel trucks. He said he had a Ford. I told him he had a piece of junk and he needed a Dodge Cummins Diesel. He agreed and let me go with a verbal warning. Men with diesel trucks like to talk about them.

But back to the current story. A quick tug with a winch and $125 put my 20,000 pounds of truck and camper in the driveway. The wife and I quickly finished packing and by 3:00PM were headed to Hiddenite Family Campground near Statesville, NC. We planned to go to the Carolina Balloon Festival on Saturday. We had visited the festival in 2007 and 2009 and had a great time.

We got to the campground too late to drive around and get "golden hour" late day photos of the leaves. Turns out the leaves have not really started to change yet in that area of NC.

But our luck looked up a little on Saturday morning. There is a town in NC named Love Valley. It is a real town incorporated in 1963 by a man who always wanted to be a cowboy. Only horses are allowed on main street. Not much was happening in town but we had a very hearty breakfast in the General Store and Cafe on main street.

Saturday afternoon after an hour long wait to park and $30 to get in, the Balloon Festival was a bust. It has turned into just another Fall carnival. We never saw a single hot air balloon and the late day ascension was cancelled because of wind. I heard that snicker again.

Saturday evening we had a wonderful campfire with wood from a 300 year old white oak tree toppled in my backyard by a tornado a few years ago.

After dinner we walked around the campground. The owner has a haunted trail every October, CampFearNc. We talked with some of the friendly people running it and got some black light photos.

Early Sunday morning we drove around and got some decent photos. So the weekend turned out fine. A bad day camping is still better than the best day working. And Greg, stop snickering, I am sorry about the yard.

Good Times on the Road		So You Want to Try the RV Lifestyle

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