List,
The old "jobs not over until the paperwork is finished" gorilla is facing me
today.
I got home about 3 yesterday afternoon and spent the rest of the afternoon
unloading things and trying to rinse the larger chunks of salt off my truck
and my daughter's car out in front of the house. Going into untracked
areas of the salt on set up did allow for a build-up on the undercarriage
that was musch more than if I had stayed on dragged areas. That was so we
could pull them into the driveway without eventually killing any lawn and
planting around the area because of salt in the soil. I'm sure there are
some rental car companies who will be finding occasional small "gifts" under
their cars this week too.
The Amo boys may not have to wash anything but road grime off their car.
Many miles of that snow slush will wash that salt right off ... and prevent
it from building up in the process.
It was good to meet and visit with so many of the people on the list last
week. Some of the people who contributed in big ways did so very quietly
and I want to say thanks.
Ed Van Scoy and his well equipped Jeep Wrangler were a big part of
retrieving the Burkland's streamliner after their 450 mph run. With Ed
pulling on wildly deflated tires to get more traction and the Burklands own
four wheel drive tow/push truck hooked behind him, the successful pull
didn't end for about a mile until we were back on solid salt surface. At
that point, Ed used his GPS unit to find where we were ... eleven miles from
the end of the access road.
Betty Burkland, Tom's mother, says "I have seen Floating Mountain and it
touches the ground." It was directly east of us as we pushed, pulled and
eventually got the liner out of the mud.
Tom, commenting on the ride, said something about "seeing Elvis and he was
wearing a cape." He also described the final part of the ride as seeing the
horizon at a 30 degree angle several times. Great driving job to get the
car stopped safely with all four wheels "in" the ground.
Cris Shearer was there with her camera to record things for posterity and to
give big tugs on the strap looped around the back of the car to help load it
on the transport trolley. Cris, I hope you had a flash, I didn't and only
got a few shots before the sun was too far gone for pictures.
Ed Shearer used the Amacus jaws of life to pry the rear of the car out of
the mud and allow something to be placed under them for a support. Touchy
situation with that heavy car and nothing but a strange plastic surface
under it. About the same consistency as the clay you throw on a potter's
wheel.
Gary Allen came up with two sheets of chipboard that were the last needed
piece to get the wheels out of the mud. These engineers think of everything
... plenty of help on the straps too.
I keep savoring Ed's comment "How often do you get to be a part of history?"
More later,
Wes Potter
Wes
|