Stranded on the way to the Horse Show

Well, the weekend didnt start out very well.

To start, three days before the horse show I found out that they were not adding reining to the show roster this time. What? No reining...? What was the point of going now? But, I had already secured the day off of work, and arranged to have Melissa haul Milo to the Tacoma Unit while I would drive there after work. Next I tackled switching shifts on Friday to get off work early. But now there is no reining? How can I redeem myself from the mess I made at last month's show?

I figured it would just be a good opportunity to go down the road with the gang and have some fun. Not to mention, the classes we would enter would not me mine and Milo's event, so it would really just give me an opportunity to school and have some fun.

Well.

I got off work at 3:30 and headed to the gas station. I filled the truck, checked the oil, stopped at the bank and was on the road. I got about twenty minutes from the show grounds (after taking a wrong exit and stopping at a Walgreens for directions) and my truck decides it will not turn back on. No matter what.

My truck pulled this B.S. twice before in the last two weeks or so. Once at the barn at 9:30 (the night I had to doctor Milo's small cut on his face), and again last Monday fueling up after cleaning at Sarah's. Both times, I waited and tried again and again and within about two to three minutes, it would turn over and go. That night I finally told Boyfriend he needed to check it out when I got home. This was not cool. Check he did, but find the solution he did not. Nothing seemed wrong with the starter, the battery, or lines. Boyfriend's guess was that a sensor was out or some connection from the ignition. It would have to get looked at.

Unfortunately, stuck in Tacoma an hour and a toll bridge away from home (and in a bad part of Tacoma, I might add), my truck refuses to turn back on. A half hour goes by of my trying to turn it on before I finally call Boyfriend, not sure what he can do from miles away or even if he was off of work yet. Off he was, and he talked me through a few steps to try and get it on or check what was wrong. Unfortunately, he concluded, he would have to find a trailer and come and get the truck. Great.

A few minutes go by as I start to settle into the truck (tears flowing constantly), and a hear a guy outside my window ask if I needed help. He, bless his heart, tried to jump the truck, and tightened some lines, but to no avail; the truck still would not start. He wished me good luck and I thanked him for his effort. I settled into my cold truck (did I mention it was a torrential downpour outside? Yeah, I was soaked. Thankfully, I had my blankets with me for the sleep over at the horse show, so I wrapped myself in those and grabbed the book I had in my purse. I settled into the book for about an hour, before Boyfriend called saying he had the trailer but was about an hour or so away. It was dark out and getting late, and he did not want me sitting alone in a stranded truck - in Tacoma. He asked if I could call to the gals at the horse show and have someone pick me up. At least they werent too far away.

I had already called them and asked to continue looking over Milo, who had been there since early in the afternoon (that alone was a huge deal to me, never before having someone else haul my horse somewhere without me, I was stressed at work all day), and asked if they would throw him some hay. But now I called again, asking if someone could come get me. Now I had figured out which roads exactly I was sitting at, and it turned out I was only down the road (albeit a long ways down the road) from the showgrounds. They were already done schooling, unpacked, and were now heading to get some Mexican. My boss and friend whose daughter rides with Sarah, said she would come and get me. So I settled into the book once again.

Just as I was starting to really freeze over, their white Ford pulled into the Walgreens parking lot. I was saved! We headed to the dinner and later the showgrounds. Would this show, one meant to be entirely for fun and schooling, even worth it now, after all of this? And what was going to happen to my truck situation once I came home from the show? What was I going to do?

Truck on trailer...now at home.  Sure looks small behind Boyfriend's diesel. 

:( Will it turn on again?