Let THE Adventures Begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK first off, this is going to be long, but HONESTLY if you take the time to read it, well, you'll be thouroughly amused beyond your own expectations! Especially if you know my hubby Ed and our friend Blake very well. That said, let the adventures begin. :O) Darla

DAY 1 FRIDAY
Fri afternoon we get in the Ford Explorer with the two 4-wheelers in tow.
We go up to the cabin mid afternoon and unload, it's starting to snow slightly but man was it COLD. Shortly thereafter Blake and Lisa and their kids showed up and we did some pre dinner cooking and visited. About 6 pm Ed, Blake and Chris decided to go for a *quick* ride on the 4-wheelers -- ahhh snow, wet, mud.
Well, they were gone for quite a while when I hear Lisa hollar to me that Ed needs me. I come down and find Ed SOAKING wet and cold at the door and they are loading up Blake's big truck (BIG!! Chevy truck with all the perks- big "man" truck) to go back down to the resevoir (mostly a dried up mess of mud and silt) and pull TWO of the 4-wheelers out of the mud! OK so this means that ALL THREE OF THEM rode back to the cabin on ONE 4-wheeler! DORKS! No problem, big truck, 3 "men" and a couple of muddy buggies... no problem.
PROBLEM.
(or should I say problem #1)
Well, shortly thereafter Lisa and I get a call (THANK GOODNESS FOR TECHNOLOGY!) and we are "instructed" to get in the Explorer and come get them. Uhhh "come GET you?" Tell me HOW you get a big huge truck like that stuck pulling out a couple of lil' ol' ATV's? Well, I'll tell you how.
PROBLEM #2
The "boys" (aka men) drive the big truck down there, pull one of the 4 wheelers out and then, because the tow ropes aren't long enough, have to drive down a "little" further to reach the other 4-wheeler that was, in fact, quite a ways out there.

** I guess I should back up here and say, the whole thing started when BLAKE challenged CHRIS to "ride outside of his tracks" and Chris went wayyyyy outside of the tracks - then they all proceeded to go back and forth getting the ATV's stuck trying to "rescue" one another... leaving only one 4-wheeler free in the end **

So, back to the pulling out part. Well, let's just say that Blake driving the truck down a little further was too far and he BURRIED his big ol' manly man truck in the deep wet soggy glue-like mud clean up to the axles! So, this is about the time we get the call. Lisa and I bundle up, and head out to get them. Directions a bit askew, cold, flustered men, bewildered women, well... we got lost! LOL Fortunatly, Chris rode out on the ATV they had been able to retrieve and found us and took us down to the guys. Too late, too dark, too cold and we headed back to the cabin for the night. (not after stopping by my neices cabin and getting some cell phone no's for some of my family that has locations up there as well)

PROBLEM #3
Blake calls for tow truck info for the next morning... uhh $300-500 ?? Um no, not happening. Well, unless it HAS to. So, we take the phone no's for my nephew in law, my sister and bro in law and make some more calls. My bro in law agrees to meet us in the morning to try to pull em' out. He has the exact same big "man" truck that Blake has. Ohhh goodie!
So, we eat dinner at 10pm and everyone pretty much crashes for the night. (not after a hot tub and a movie for the adults!)

DAY 2 SATURDAY
Problem #4
We wake up to LOTS AND LOTS of new snow. LOTS of snow - and still coming down. Then Blake goes out to shovel the deck and, well, yea, Ed now has a FLAT tire on the back of the Explorer!!!!! YES! A FLAT TIRE! Not low, not "needs a bit of air".... no, no such luck. As a matter of fact the ONLY luck we have is that our spare was in good shape and Ed and Blake were in fact able to get it changed out and be able to get going to pick up some tow chains. Whew!
So, my bro in law and sis show up, the boys go in the Explorer and I go with my sister (to take PHOTOS of course!) and we head back down to the reservoir. We get there and HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!! With all the snow and moisture the water has risen, "quite a bit"... So, the guys hook up a zillion feet of chains, rope and tow strap and make several attempts to pull out Blake's truck with narely a budge. *sigh* So, we gave up and at least pulled out the other ATV - talk about at least a bit of a stress relief for Darla!!
Problem #5 and #6 and #7
Well, we discover that they overcharged Blake $3 ft for the chain so we send Chris on the retrieved ATV back to the cabin and Ed, Blake and I head off to get a refund and Blake calls a tow truck guy. Meanwhile the snow is flying and the roads are getting SLICK! Well, we are driving along and all of sudden we go into a fishtail in the Explorer (pulling the empty trailer!!) and HOLY COW I was so scared! We did about 4 or 5 fans back and forth but luckily Ed kept it going and straightened us out and I tell you what - I thought we were DEAD right there, right then. So, we get the refund, go "home" to the cabin and wait for the tow guy to call. Due to the nasty roads there were several wrecks so he had to respond to those and finally called that afternoon....

Resolve of Problems FINALLY!
YES - they got the truck out! The tow guy had a heckuva time, but they got it out AND he was only going to charge $95 AND he even loved the bazillion ft of chain so much and since Blake had his reciept of what he'd paid for it on him, the tow guy TRADED the tow out for the chain!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!

So, the rest of the weekend was lots of movies, naps, games, a few much more "mellow" ATV rides and some good ol' fashioned rest and relaxation! WHEW! I do have some "fun" photos but I'll share those later.
Enjoy the photos of the drama. I am sure you can make them all out. The only thing I did not get photos of was the actual TOW OUT OF THE MUD but we did get the "after" tire tracks in the mud to keep forever! LOL Enjoy!

Top to Bottom:
-The "men" trying to dig in the mud to try to pull out with tow ropes/chain/strap with my BrotherInLaw
-The mud tracks after they finally got the truck out.
-The truck out in the snow on the banks of the water. Look at the SNOW!
-The ATV way out there!!!!
and -Ed's flat on the Explorer that morning.