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| This is the smoke from the fire at 165 acres. It has grown to 600 acres now, so the smoke is even worse. Opening the windows was not an option when we got home until the wind shifted directions. It was 80* degrees inside the house. We are now keeping the insulated blinds closed to keep things cool. |
We went into town for our monthly supply run. It was a boiling 85* degrees at 9,000 ft in mid-June. What is it going to be in July and August? It was also an extremely smokey day. Some happy irresponsible camper burned down 591 acres of forest so far costing $4.3 million dollars by not putting out their campfire properly. The fire is still burning and is only 15% contained.
The radiator in the car literally cracked it's top. At first, it was just the radiator cap and the tiniest pinholes around a stamped label of some sort. Did you know that radiators are partially made of plastic? How stupid is that? This is just another example of the rampant greed that plagues all of us. I digress.
We temporarily fixed or thought that we fixed the small leak and replaced the cap. It worked while we ran our errands, but outside of town on our way home it blew large cracks into the plastic. We had a couple gallons of water in the car with us, so we cooled off the engine and filled it back up. We made it to a place that sells tractors, and they graciously allowed us to get more water to top off our radiator and re-fill our water jugs. We only made it a couple of miles before having to repeat the process. We continued this pattern all the way home.
Now it was time to climb 3,000 feet up a mountain pass where there is absolutely nothing around, including water. We decided to travel around this pass. It is a much longer route, but it is mainly flat. This made a huge difference in our ability to travel a longer distance without having to stop. There was also a chance to get water on this route from a state park. The bathrooms at the state park had the kind of faucets that had to be continuously pressed down to get a small amount of water to come out. I must say that the bathrooms were spotless! The cleanest and nicest state park bathrooms that I have ever seen. There are no outside faucets there due to the extreme winter temperatures. However, I remembered that they do have a hand pumped well down a trail, but it was several miles away in the wrong direction.
We topped everything off and headed towards the ranch. At that point we were just a few miles from the house, so we were able to make it all the way home. I'm glad we left early in the morning, because it only got hotter outside.
We were tired and hot from not being able to run the air conditioner in the car. I'm pretty sure that we were also dehydrated. We carried drinking water, but we were very distracted and didn't consume enough of it. I have not changed out our Emergency Winter Car Kit for our Emergency Summer Car Kit either. Ugh! My normal policy when we leave the house is to carry what we need for the current season so that we are to be able to get ourselves home in case of an emergency. The more lessons that we learn about emergencies and self-care during stressful situations is a blessing and a great reminder of how fast dehydration sets in at this altitude at any time of the year.
What should have been a three-hour trip turned into an all-day event that we were woefully unprepared for. I actually got sunburned through the open window on my arm even though I tried to keep it out of the sun. I could feel it burning, so I moved it regularly, but I burned anyway. The sun is very strong here. We were very grateful to make it all the way home in our car. I bet I drank a half gallon of iced tea and water when we got home in a very short period of time. I continued drinking fluids until I went to bed that night. I was so thirsty. I woke up thirsty the next morning too. Note to self: Change out Emergency car kits and add sunscreen to both kits...
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| Emergency Winter Car Kit |
We actually have a towing policy in place, but being towed to the closest repair shop would have created more hardships for us. Plus, most of the route is devoid of any cell service whatsoever. There are no car rental places around either, so getting home in our car was the best solution for us in this situation. This is one of the disadvantages to living in a remote area devoid of services and neighbors for the most part. We used to have neighbors and friends that we could rely on, but they have moved away to live easier lives. Self-reliance goes a long way, but still falls short sometimes. When faced with the daunting task of possibly having to walk home, I realized how hard it would be. Possible, but very difficult. I plan on re-evaluating and expanding our car kits to include Get Home Packs.
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| The new radiator. FYI, they don't come with a radiator cap. |
Level the path for your feet, let all your ways be properly prepared.
Proverbs 4:26
Mrs. Smith
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