Every day brings a new adventure for those boys. Today, I
got to share in the excitement as the lumber was finally delivered to our place.
It all began last weekend, when Matt told the lumber company
that the road was very bad. They didn’t trust themselves to deliver the wood,
so they returned the delivery fee. It was up to Matt and Luciano to come up
with plans A, B and C.
So, they hired a guy with a big British army truck to make
the delivery. That afternoon, the Rover followed the army truck down Honey Camp
Road. They watched, as about 5 miles into the trip, the truck veered off the
road and into soft ground.
This heavy load could not escape it’s fate.
The boys left the truck to find one of the few tractors on
Honey Camp, but the driver was too drunk to help. And on their way out of the
long road to inquire, they got the Rover stuck! That ensued a whole new train
of complications, which they eventually freed themselves of and returned to the
truck.
They began unloading the “small stuff” into the Rover and
driving it to HCR. They got all the floor delivered that night. It was getting
dark, and after many attempts to get out using only 4-wd, the driver decided to
stay the night with his truck and the lumber.
The next day, Luciano had found a man in town who had a tractor.
The tractor didn’t help and the truck remained grounded.
The driver was spent. He was ready to go home. He and his
passenger began unloading lumber. Claudio was left behind to guard it, as Matt
and Luciano went into town to borrow Neto’s trailer. With the trailer in tow, they
worked all day moving the 2x4s to HCR.
Sometime around midnight (just after they finished moving
the 2x4s) the truck driver did get out. I hear that he had to jack up the truck
and put stones under the tires.
Earlier that day, Luciano did get ahold of Mr. Bull—another
man with a tractor. He was already busy for the day, but said he could be out
first thing in the morning to move the remaining lumber to HCR.
Matt woke early the next day. They had left the heaviest and
most expensive lumber in the road… and he was hearing things. He jumped into
the Rover while it was still dawn (perhaps 5:30) and went to check on the
lumber.
After confirming that it was still there, he returned. But
it was no wasted trip! Matt collected the rocks from the truck escapade and
brought them back to help repair our dead end road. He also dug a trench to
drain the water from a small lake at the entrance of our road. And all that
before breakfast! After eating, the boys called Mr. Bull, who said he would
meet them at the site.
I was left once again with a ton of work to do, and a sweet
charming baby. I had been here before—for the last two days, and I wasn’t
hopeful.
A couple hours passed when I heard the Rover coming up the
road. I braced myself for another tragic detour.
I walked out to the road, and saw not the Rover, but a
tractor climbing the horizon!
I was overjoyed. If I wasn’t so busy taking pictures, I
would have been dancing.
It took Mr. Bull and his crew of 2; and the Rover, carrying
Matt, Luciano and Claudio 3 trips to carry the remaining 8x8 lumber.
When they
were through, it was 11:58am, and I was beside myself. It was one of the
greatest mornings ever at Honey Camp Ranch. Mr. Bull is indeed a bull. He’s
larger than life and a king upon his throne.
