Angels In The Desert

Yangdu

Yangdu

Himalayan Imports Owner ~ himimp@aol.com
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Over 16 years ago, Uncle Bill and I were moving cross-country from
Louisiana to Reno. We were in the El Camino and Uncle Bill was pulling the
trailer with all our stuff in it. We spent the night in Las Vegas and left early the next morning.

We didn't get very far. Before we got to a small desert town, Beatty, our El
Camino developed car trouble and we had to stop by the side of the road. No
one would stop to help us and it was getting hotter and hotter in the desert sun.

Eventually, an elderly couple on their way home to Portland stopped and
offered to drive on to Beatty to get the parts my husband told them we needed.

They went to Beatty, bought the parts for $80 and sent them back to us
with someone on the way to Las Vegas. They didn't expect a payment from us for the car parts they bought.

We did have their name and address and sent them a 12" Khukuri in appreciation for their help.

The gentleman was delighted to get a Khukuri of his own. He had
seen some when he was in the army overseas many years ago and never
thought that he would finally own one. He said that it "was the best gift he'd ever received."

That couple from Portland were definitely Angels In The Desert for us. Don't
know what would have happened if they hadn't stopped to help us. Something to think about when you are traveling in remote places.
 
have traversed lots of desolation in n.m. ari.calif @ tx.always carry 2 gall. of h2o,if winter a sleeping bag,not a bad idea to go loaded.we have one area in tx. no services for 118 miles.if you stop at a deserted rest area go with something in your pocket.
 
What an adventure that trip must have been for you in more ways than one.

Appreciate you sharing it with us.
 
Great story Miss Yangdu.:thumbup: There are still a few places in this great country of ours where this sort of thing still happens, or at least I really hope so.....
Such adventures used to be a common occurrence way back when, like when I was a wee lad. It was in 1945 when my folks and I were traveling across country again on one of our long excursions away from what I always considered "Home" which was my grandparents who lived in Turley Oklahoma.

We were pulling a 35 foot custom made trailer house with a 1940 model Buick Limited Straight -8- eight. We were hell and gone somewhere out in the flatlands somewhere, I'm too old to remember if I ever knew, I just went along with my folks.
Anyway we ran across another family that had some kids which was nice for me because I rarely had anyone to play with on our trips. They were driving a little Ford 60 V8 called that because even though it was a V8 it only had 60 horsepower and they were also pulling a 28 foot house trailer!
The old man knew that they would never make it over the pass we were all headed for to cross the Continental Divide pulling all that weight with their little Ford.
A couple of days before we were going over the pass the old man told the other fellow to take the lead and he did and we stopped along the road again somewhere in the middle of nowhere and the old man pulled up real close behind the other families trailer house to see how the bumper on it lined up with our big old Buick. It did.:thumbup: :D

The other fellow asked my old man, "Got a little close there didn't you George?" "Or are you checking the bumpers to see if they matched?
My old man told him it was just in case his little Ford couldn't pull the grade and he would stop them from rolling back down the mountain with our big ol' Buick, evidently he bought it as you'll find out later if you've managed to make it this far.;)

The day we headed out for the pass my old man told the other fellow to take the lead and he'd do what he could to see we all made it over the pass safely so we started out.
The first part was pretty good but when we started to really climb that little Ford kept getting slower and slower until finally my old man eased up behind them, dropped our Big Buick into low gear and away we went until we reached the summit where it was our custom to stop and take a breath of relief.

When we stopped the other family all jumped out of their little Ford and the guy came back grinning from ear to ear! He told my old man, "George, you know I thought there for a while we wasn't gonna make it but then suddenly it had all kinds of power!!!!" It was then my old man confessed and told him what he had done and of course the guy couldn't thank him enough.
It was the next day we parted company never to see one another again and it was one of the few times my old man did something good.
Most of the time he wasn't worth the powder to blow him to hell, but this just goes to show that angels, as Miss Yangdu says, can show up anywhere at any time.
Way back 64 years ago America was a different country than it is today and it would be wonderful if there was some way to recapture the good part of the things the way they were 64 years ago.:thumbup: :cool: :D



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You still run into that in WV,not all the time but you do.

I always try to lend a hand whenever I can and I can see they'd be thankful for it.
 
Great story, thank you Yvsa
 
It's great that people are willing to be helpful; I've seen it in action. But never forget the other side of it: that we need to be willing to ACCEPT their help. I've also seen cases where people were afraid of someone stopping for them, or offering any kind of help. I've been in both of those roles, too.
 
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