By Teachinfourth, Adventures and Misadventures of Daily Living
Published: May 2, 2012 8:12 A.M MST
PROVO, UTAH—A local blogger and 5th grade teacher said that he never expected his trip to southern Utah to end out on Ruby Ranch Road in the heart of nowhere—but it did.
Teachinfourth headed down to Green River on Friday to spend some time with a few friends. On Saturday afternoon the group decided to take a day trip to see a local geyser; however, the 45-minute trip stretched to a record six hours from start to finish.
“I took a side road after the geyser,” Teachinfourth admitted. “Just to see where it went. After all, you never see anything new by always sticking to the roads you already know.”
After hitting a few patches of sand, they realized that there would be no turning back. They instead continued onward, thinking that the road would join another they’d seen go off to the right. However, in another half mile, they could go no further.
“It was adventure,” John Hughes, Teachinfourth’s friend, said laughing about the whole thing. “And not something I was worrying about. In fact the only thing I was worried about was running out of baby wipes for my daughter.”
They tried to dig out the front tires and make a trail of rocks and sticks, but it was to no avail. So, while the kids watched a movie in the car, Teachinfourth and his friend, Mindy, headed out to make a call after finding a few bars of service some thousand feet from the car.
“We called John’s parents,” Teachinfourth said. “They had a four-wheel drive. I told them that we were stuck in the sand and it wasn’t John’s fault…this was solely my doing…John’s parents just laughed. I guess this sort of thing happened once a long time ago.”
Teachinfourth, Mindy, and one of John’s children, Micah, walked up the road to greet the rescue party; as they were wandering, Mindy mused, “I wonder if this is how Gilligan felt when he started out on his 'three-hour-tour'.”
After forty-five minutes, the Senior Hughes family arrived. As Mindy, Micah, and Teachinfourth climbed into the truck, Grandma Hughes turned around and asked, “What kind of car are you driving?”
“A Santa Fe,” Teachinfourth responded.
“You really need to get a Chevy,” she said with a laugh. “They can get through anything.”
Grandma Hughes wasn’t joking. After a few minutes of digging and pushing, the car was easily pulled out and the group was again on their way. The drive back to Green River took just over a half hour and it wasn’t long before everyone was munching on toast and cold cereal for dinner.
“It was quite the adventure,” Teachinfourth said. “Not one I’d care to repeat…but at least this one didn’t last the entire night.
Treachinfourth can be found writing several times a week at www.teachinfourth.blogspot.com
Two eyewitness accounts may be found here and here about this excursion.
