Catching Idle Butterflies

Stuck!

We had it all planned, Dave and I.

He would work on the kitchen and I would work on my writing.

But the sun shown, the birds sang, and we could hear the drip, drip of snow melting off . . . everything.

"Let's go to Hazelton," Dave said. "I think we both need to get outside, as does the dog."

I thought about it for a 1 1/2 seconds before I agreed.

FYI: Hazelton is a small town about 60 miles SE of Bismarck. Dave's uncle owns a farm down there, and his cousin Kyle was also supposed to be there working on a 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser he bought from Dave about a year ago.

On our way there, we spotted a Wildlife Management Area. Dave decided to check it out.

We made about 1/4 mile down the snow-buried road no one had traveled since before Christmas, I'm sure, before we got stuck in 1 1/2' deep snow.

Wouldn't you know, Dave had taken out his shovel the day before to clean Rufus' kennel. He does have a winch up front, and there were trees close enough, but I stayed mum. I figured Dave had a reason for not wanting to try it.

Oh, would you like to see pictures? I know Dave would love for you to see them *snicker*. I took them with my camera phone, so they're not the best quality. Still, you see enough.

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Yep, we're stuck.

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A closeup to show how deep the snow was.

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Oops. My finger got in the way.

Now what? We were at least 10 miles away from the farm, and even farther from any town. I checked my cell phone and noticed if I stood about 2 feet from the side of the truck I had 1-2 bars of signal.

Dave only knew Kyle's old phone number, but he also knew Kyle had a message on it giving his new number. I called Kyle's new number, but no answer.

Dave suggested I try 411 for the number at the farm.

Do I like Verizon's 411! I called it, and the lady who answered was very efficient. I had the number within seconds. Plus, it not only gave me the option to text message my phone with the number, but even dialed it for me. I imagine I'll be paying for that service on my next bill, though!

Glancing at the trees, Dave then said, "Well that was stupid. Why didn't I think of hooking the winch to one of those trees?"

I laughed and said, "I said nothing, because I thought you had a reason for not considering it."

We did decide it wouldn't have been the best idea after all. The snow looked deeper by the trees, and so we would have likely stuck the truck worse.

Kyle arrived about 15 minutes later:

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Dave hooking up the chain.

It took another 10 minutes to get us out. Kyle got stuck a few times himself, but not so bad a little push on Dave's part didn't solve. Dave's truck was wedged in good.

Rufus had a blast though. She hadn't been outside in such a big area for so long, and she so loves trampling through the snow. All she did was run, run, run. Occassionally we threw snowballs for her to run after and retrieve. Funny, she didn't retrieve a single one.

All in all, a fun trip. I spent some time basking in much-missed sunshine, and even though I froze my feet in the melting snow watching Kyle and Dave unstuck a truck, the warm temperatures, little wind and clear skies rejeuvinated me. I don't feel guilty for not writing anything yesterday!

Today, though, I have some catching up to do. Then again it is Sunday. No one will begrudge me if I spend it resting.

Happy Sunday!