We jumped off the highway and continued to drive. It was dark, and we soon realized we probably didn't pick be best exit to get off on. We had driven through poorer neighborhoods before, but never spent the night. As John makes his way back to find the highway, he turned up a street with a deep dip, and soon realized we were not going make it. We heard a loud, piercing scrape from beneath the RV and we were stuck, half way in the street and half way in the intersection.
John sternly told us to stay in the camper as he hustled out to assess the damage. I was nervously pondering, "What if there's a drive by shooting?" Or worse, "What if someone tries to hijack 'The Beast'?!"
Well, no, not really, I was actually thinking, "Crap!! How the heck are we going to get out of here at this time of the night!?!" I reluctantly decided to go out and attempt to help. "Stay inside kids, I'm headed out."
"John, do you want me to call someone?" as he crawled halfway under the RV.
"Are you okay under there?" I asked him as I peaked underneath.
Not long after I stepped outside people began to take notice. It's not everyday a huge 32ft RV, with a bunch of kids, is stuck in the middle of the road.
We had quite the cast of characters who volunteered to help us out and help is exactly what they did.
An interesting gentleman with a graying beard was hustling to assist, he crawled under our RV and tried to figure out which direction we should try to move it. A younger man, in camouflage pants, was working his way around the camper to determined how he could help.
Another gentleman sauntered over to see what all the commotion was about.
Traffic begun to slow at the intersection, a police officer soon assisted with the traffic flow and offered to call a tow truck.
John and our new found friends weren't convinced we needed a tow truck just yet. These were men on a mission to get our house moved, forward or backward, it was going to happen.
When the situation was beginning to look dire, an F250 truck with a few guys pulled up. "Need some help?" they called out. After much deliberation it was determined they'd drag us out with their strap. Things started to look promising.
By this time our kids were hanging their heads out the windows talking to the young man in camos, trying to get a glimpse of what's going on. It's quite the interactive scene; passerby's standing around wondering if our massive vehicle was going to spend the entire night blocking the road.
It took at least 30 minutes to determine what was stuck, how it was stuck and how to get it unstuck. Do we move forward or back it up?
Finally after a few failed attempts, the F250 successfully pulled the RV out and freed us from the hungry dip in the road. Everyone cheered. It was a sobering moment. How often does a team of strangers work together toward a common goal? It was an intense start to our summer vacation.
We never forgot the night "The Beast" was stuck and how complete strangers took their time to help us, expecting nothing in return. I have never driven through an unfamiliar neighborhood with fear, but now I will drive through with new found admiration.
I learned an important lesson that evening, we are all common souls on this earth willing to help those in need anywhere at anytime. Who we are is much more meaningful then where we live.
We will always be very grateful for the help we received one late night in Virginia.
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