High Adventure Just A Few Blocks From Home

The husband had just sat down to enjoy his lunch outside on our patio when his phone rang.  It was a friend indicating that there were cans and bottles to pick up at her son’s house not too far away.  I jumped into the van and headed out.

You see, the husband is known for taking cans and bottles to our local redemption center and getting cash!  He has a route that includes several single ladies, who prefer him handling the can redemption, that he travels every couple of weeks.  The friend who called is one of his usual pick-up locations but she was at her son’s house.  Her son was redoing his home with great care and artistry and was tackling the garage—tearing it down.  The cans and bottles had to go. 

When I arrived at the house a handful of blocks away from our home, I parked in the driveway.  Then, we discovered it was going to be multiple trips across the yard to get the cans/bottles into the back of the van.  So I decided to back the van into the yard.

After loading some 800 cans/bottles into the van, I discovered that the front tire on the driver’s side had sunk quite a bit into the moist yard.

The men pushed, put cardboard, plastic, and even wood under the tires to attempt to get traction so I could pull out.  They called in another guy with a big truck who took one look at our situation and agreed that calling a tow truck was the way to go.

Since I had only gone a few blocks AND had left the house in a hurry, I had not grabbed my purse.  But, I did have my phone.  I called the husband and asked him to call AAA for a tow truck.  I gave him the address.  He called back and said a tow truck was on its way, but that I needed to have our AAA number to give to the tow truck driver.   The husband sent a text message with our AAA number along with the phone number of the towing service.  Great problem solving!

The tow truck came to the rescue strapping up the van and towing it back onto the road.  While I was grateful that the van was no longer sinking into the mud I felt horrible about the holes left in the yard.  The hosts were gracious.

So, an hour and a half later I arrived back at home shaking my head at the idea of needing to be towed out of someone’s front yard a few blocks from home.  And, the husband?  Well, he immediately took off to the redemption center!  He promised to tell me the next time someone uses the phrase “mother load” to describe any can/bottle pick-ups.