Rouge Valley Balloon Festival

< >

Alex Watched and listened

to the Balloons and their

people, they were loud and

friendly, in that order...

Even the Balloons were happy>

^A Little Traffic Maybe???^

What's This >

a. Tow Truck

b. hearse

c. Hero for the day

Answer:

Hopefully a & c only...

Update Monday : b is the answer

< Gotta do the paper work...

This day is Finally over >

Here is the rest of the story...We gassed up and headed southbound, light traffic, fond memories of a fun balloon festival and the car was running good, so I thought...While cruising up the Siskiyou summit I thought I was watching a nascar race cam, lots of white stuff from under the hood...Being semi mechanically oriented I pulled to the side of the highway half way up the summit basically in the middle of nowhere...No sweat, I thought, just wait for a State trooper to place a call for help, wrong!!! State Troopers are only around if your speeding, not stopped alongside the road in the middle of nowhere with a smoking car...Oh-well I had Mr. Service Dog Alex to keep me company as we patiently waited for a miracle...After an hour of waiting for the miracle to happen I looked under the still steaming hood...I was elated to find that the upper radiator hose had only come off, a screw driver, or even a dime and some water and we could be on our way...I checked through out the borrowed car and found no screw driver, no dime, (2 quarters in my pocket) and no water container, Oh well, not to worry, the State Trooper would more than likely have access to these things, better than a tow back into Oregon at least...Getting a bit bored waiting, Alex and I walked up the road just because it was there...50 yards from the car I found an Allen wrench, something you can never find when you need one, I didn't need one but it symbolized the start of the miracles...Another 50 yards is where I found the creek, running and clean, at least we wouldn't dehydrate...We started back towards the car then the miracles continued...A truck stopped and the fellow said, "I used to have a red male Doberman" You know and I know people don't stop for Dobes...I explained the situation and he gave me a dime and an empty wine bottle with out saying "call someone who cares" I graciously thanked him and started the four 200 yard round trips, car to the creek and back...In no time at all we were once again southbound, an eye on the temp gauge and a smile on our faces, yes, Alex was as happy as I to be moving again...Over the summit, thru the agricultural station, (the guy said "you have any animals in the vehicle other than that dog?" I refrained from telling him about the tiger in the tank) and soon we were approaching Yreka, only 25 miles from home...The car seemed to be going slower up the hill but the temperature gauge still was right where it should be...Just before I was past the point of no return at the north Yreka off ramp the dash board turned red with idiot lights, we were dead in the water, (so to speak)... I picked the big 'N' for neutral, rolled the stop sign at the bottom of the off ramp and coasted to the shade at a gas station...I was getting used to this miracle thing now, A friendly attendant, some borrowed tools and a water hose shoulda done the trick, BUT, when the car ran it sounded like a can of a dozen coins being shook... Tow truck time...I called, it came and another miracle on this very hot day, air conditioning!!! Alex rode on the seat next to Mike the driver and half on my lap with his nose near the incoming cold air, Al didn't move for the next 25 miles...We were dropped off at the bottom of our driveway, another miracle!!! During the walk up our driveway I took off my sunglasses, they promptly fell apart at my feet...Walked in my house, sat my butt in the recliner and called it a day...In retrospect all I can say is " Thank God for miracles and borrowed cars...

*This is the one seater balloon >*
	< *This is how we would look*