From:Bob Nicholas e-mail:bobheci-A-hotmail.com
Subject:Wauseon Woes - The Road to Ruin Date:Tue Jul 21 14:49:39 2015
All,

Wuss, Rollo, General George, George Downes, Kenny Kephart,
Matt Pauly, Bill Lackman, Billy Potter, Pewee and I all made it up to Wauseon this year. It was a pretty good showing of the Highlands Chapter.

Four of us worked at Old Dude's vendor spot for most of the weekend. Bart was shorthanded, as Clete was at home recovering from surgery. Wuss brought a huge get-well card to the event. It was signed by about a hundred well-wishers.

Things started going awry the first day when Rollo banged up a foot jumping out of Old Dude's van. The tumble to the concrete put a serious hitch in his giddy up. By the time we left Wauseon Rollo's foot was pretty swollen and very colorful, all purple, yellow and brown.

The flat track races were rained out on Friday night. We did get to see some of the qualification races, but the main event was cancelled. We were all sorry to miss one of the highlights of the Wauseon meet.

There were tons of vendors this year. So many that some were turned away at the gate. Next year they plan to expand to the field adjacent to the complex. We all gathered up various parts during the three day event. So that part of the trip was excellent.

We were enjoying the pleasant trip home when Wuss's Trail Blazer suddenly lost all oil pressure. Additional racket and destruction of various engine parts ensued. We were able to get the truck to the side of the highway and re-start is several times. The engine noise was significant, even when oil pressure came back for brief moments. Since the towing company refused to come get us on the PA Turnpike and we were cooking our brains in the blazing sun, Wuss decided to limp (at 55 MPH) to the next exit nearly 5 miles away.

The F word was used liberally during this part of the trip. Sometimes it drowned out the clattering from the engine.

The noises continued to get louder and stranger as we proceeded down the highway. We guessed that the timing belt was shredding as we proceeded towards the exit. Wuss got the truck to a gas station just before it totally gave up the ghost. There we sat, 3 hours from Virginia, in the extreme heat, with no good way to get home.

There weren't any U-Hauls or Budget Rentals open on Sunday afternoon. Numerous phone calls yielded no help at all. Even the folks at Enterprise couldn't help us.

Mike finally convinced his insurance company to send a Jerr-Dan auto hauler to take him and the truck back to Virginia. However, he would have to stay the night. He would find out that Pennsylvanian mosquitos swarmed with a vengeance as soon as the sun went down. Evidently they have a hanker'n for Virginian blood. (I forgot to tell Mike that I had a brand new bottle of heavy duty mosquito repellent in the back of his truck. Sorry about that Wuss!)

Mike noticed a beat-up short-bus that pulled into the gas station. It had Virginia tags. Wuss ran over to the driver and explained our situation. The driver had just dropped off a group of inner-city kids to church camp. He was heading back to Charlottesville. He agreed to drop us off in Winchester, VA. Dana was able to come out from Herndon with her car and get Rollo, the General and me back home.

Wuss finally got home late the next day. His truck was dropped off at Mike Wheeler's shop for diagnosis and treatment. We aren't sure if the damage is terminal of if the Trail Blazer's engine can be resurrected.

Hey, at least we made some memories this year. Next year, we just might take a back-up vehicle.

Bob