Stuck in a Creek

We had a nice, normal week until Friday afternoon. We all loaded up for a fun 4-wheeler ride. We took a new route and ended up finding a pig-trail that led to a creek. At the entry point of the creek it was mostly dry (sand and rocks) with water occasionally on the side. We drove a little ways down the creek until we came to a point where water covered the whole creek bottom. Where we stopped was sandy so we got off to let the kids play in the sand. There was some shallow water nearby so Anna & I waded in it since we had on flip flops. Mason was having a ball throwing rocks into the water. We were playing and having a great time when Kevin decided to drive off in the deeper water. Not such a great idea!! Long story short...he got STUCK!

I'm thinking WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE GOING TO DO???? We were over 5 miles from our house, on a rural county road with the nearest house being close to a mile away and had two kids with us. Fortunately I had grabbed my cell phone as I left the house and threw it in the 4-wheelers compartment. (I don't always take it but try to on our longer trips. I always think that if we have a flat or trouble that we could call for help. I never imagined it would come in handy in this situation.) Kevin made several calls and couldn't get ahold of anyone. He left messages and kept trying more people. Finally the kids and I walked out of the creek and down the pig-trail to the gravel road. I was hoping someone (nice, not a serial killer) would drive by and stop to help. At some point I even suggested calling 911. They could send a sheriff or deputy out to help. Finally about 20 minutes after leaving a message one of Kevin's friends called back. He so graciously agreed to come help and brought a tractor with him. Another friend called and came with his 4-wheeler. One friend's wife came and brought something for us to drink. (Mason really appreciated the drink!) She offered to take the kids and me home but I declined since the tractor had arrived and the 4-wheeler was on it's way. I assumed they would pull us out and we would be on our way home. So she went on to her son's baseball pictures. Why did I assume??

Plan A

We headed back into the creek with our friend's 4-wheeler. The guys got the 4-wheeler chained to the front of ours and proceeded to pull it out. Our 4-wheeler didn't budge! Then they repositioned and tried pulling ours from behind. However, this placed our friend's 4-wheeler on unstable sand and he started to get stuck. So they unhooked the chain and thankfully he got out.

Plan B

Our friend that brought the tractor drove it down to the creek. He was backing it towards our 4-wheeler when its tires started spinning and sinking. My heart just about stopped. It was bad enough having our 4-wheeler stuck in the creek. I couldn't imagine how we would get a TRACTOR out of the creek! I was praying that God would get that tractor back on stable ground. Thankfully he was able to get the tractor back on the trail without getting stuck. Now what?? By now Anna was upset and crying. She wanted the 4-wheeler out and to go home. To be honest, I could have cried too. The fun had ended long ago.

Plan C

One guy knew a guy that had a 4-wheeler with a winch on it. He decided to go get that 4-wheeler. Thankfully he had to drive right by our house to get it, so he took me and the kids home. (We started our ride at 5:00. It was 7:00 when we got home and they were starving.) Since I was at home, the rest of the story is what I've been told.

Kevin and the friend that stayed behind dug sand out from around the tires of our 4-wheeler. The other guy returned with the winch. The hooked the winch to our 4-wheeler and chained the back of the other 4-wheeler to a tree to keep it from moving and sinking.

Plan C worked!! They were able to get our 4-wheeler unstuck.

I love this picture. The guy on the left looks to me like he's thinking "now, how will I get out of here?!"

I need to make note that the wife (Angela) came back by after baseball pictures with more drinks. She used her camera phone to take these pictures for me. I am so grateful to her for being so thoughtful! I can pull these pictures up at any time to remind Kevin of his bad decision!! (Just kidding.) I don't know what we would have done without Jason and Matt's help.

Friday afternoon was a good lesson on how wonderful it is to have great friends. They came to our rescue even though they had other plans for the evening. Jason was supposed to go to ball pictures with his family. Matt had got home early and was washing his truck. But they both stopped what they were doing and came to help. It reminds me of the Tracy Lawrence song "You Find Out Who Your Friends Are". We will forever be grateful and thankful to Jason, Matt and Angela!!

I asked Anna this morning if she wanted to go ride 4-wheelers in the creek. She immediatley replied with a clear "NO!"