AFTER 2500 MILES...THE LAST ONE WAS A DOOZY!

Allen flew to John Wayne Airport to get Joey who graduated from College yesterday and ride with him to get his 'stuff' from LA, Visalia and Hanford. William drove from Santa Rosa to meet them in Visalia.

In a brief conversation with Joe while they were leaving Visalia, Joe said he was very 'thankful' that Will was there to help them. Will had about 6 hours of sleep in the last 66 hours, but both he and Allen left Joey at his new home in Caldwell, Idaho and headed home shortly after arriving there today.

They drove through snow and desolation and through the Dalles and the Gorge and were within a mile of home (on Christiansen Road) at about 10 pm, when they were faced with three cars headed their way on a very narrow section of our gravel road.

The temperature had dipped to 27 degrees tonight so it was colder than a well diggers ass compared to what we're used to, so ice was formed on parts of the road already by the time they drove in.

As Will navigated the rig to as far to the right as he could to let the three cars pass (later we found that they were guests at our neighbors party), the tires on the 34 foot trailer hit ice and the rig slid over the side of the road and ended up teetering on about a 20-30 foot cliff.

The 'party goers' had a turn out about 30 feet before they met Will on the road, but they didn't think of stopping there to let Will go by.

The Trailer was going to need a Tow Driver that could operate a 'wench' but the only 'local' with a 24 hour service had been to a party himself, so was in no condition to work tonight...so Chief Denison came out after Wendy called him personally with a SOS and he assessed the situation and got in contact with another Tow Driver with a Wench in Waldport.

Both Allen and Will were dead tired, especially William who had so little sleep...and Allen who slept sitting up in cat naps during the grueling trip to help the 'youngest' get settled into his new digs and life in Idaho.

They were so close to a warm fire and comfortable bed, but instead of rolling in about ten...there would be a few more hours spent in the freezing weather waiting for the Tow and then, observing the process of getting the rig upright... and then not even knowing if it was going to be able to travel an inch or a mile further...once it did get lifted out of the side of that mountain.

I was there with the Hummer almost out of gas as I let it run for an hour or two (and it was very low on gas anyway following my 'adventure with Faye' the other day...and I haven't been to town to fill it up yet).

I kept the Hummer warm so me and the guys could get in it once in awhile to warm up and to help keep us all from freezing. Neither of them were dressed for the freezing weather and I think Wills feet were almost frozen since he was just wearing his combat boots, by the time he got to go home with Wendy... and hopefully, to get a well deserved good night's sleep!

There's no street lights on our private road out here in the wilderness, so it was also very dark except there was a full moon, and the blinking lights on our vehicles.

A strange incident indeed. It took TWO TOW TRUCKS to get the trailer back on the road, and by the Grace of God...it seemed to be 'true' enough to drive on to the ranch where Will left it and the truck up by the gray barn. We'll assess the structural and cosmetic damage tomorrow as we noted quite a bit of that on the site, so it is going to cost a bit to fix it.

Wendy chalked it up to 'Rudy Luck'...as Allen assured her that Will did nothing wrong. She has a party tomorrow afternoon and many people coming for Mary Kay, Jewelry and Candle items before Christmas...and then tomorrow night we are all going to Mary and Walt's Annual Big Christmas Bash...and Walt's 50th Birthday Party (Shhhh...it's a surprise).

Anyway, everyone, (with the exception of me writing this entry) is finally completely "tuckered out" from this latest adventure, and all are "tucked into" their warm beds now, but thought I would share the hair raising experience the LAST MILE of a VERY LONG JOURNEY brought us all here in Oregon.

It is always GOOD NEWS when everyone comes out of an accident like this without serious injury.

It could have turned out quite differently if the 'ball' on the hitch didn't hold, or if more ice had built up on the side of the cliff which was at about a 70 degree angle.

Had the Trailer gone down, it could have pulled the Truck with it, and it would have landed upside down in a gooey marsh. Wills quick thinking by keeping the truck moving forward so the two wheels off the side could dig into the cligg some, surely saved both Allen and Will from tragedy.

I am happy to have our men home, and especially with both of them shaken up some, but still in one piece. The 'yellow light' came on in the Hummer as I drove slowly back to the ranch, so I'm sort of happy that Allen keeps a 5 gallon gas can full of gas around all the time. I wouldn't want to chance running out of gas tomorrow taking it to the station.

I just want to Thank the Good Lord for looking out for them, and I am glad 'their number isn't up' yet.

Sort of makes me think of how important they both are to me and the family...and how grateful I am to have them around.