This morning we prepared to leave the home of our friends Mark and Connie. We had spent a glorious time in Gold Beach and we were ready to head home to Ashland. We did our best to leave their place in perfect condition, with the addition of a few bottles of wine, some chocolates, homemade biscotti and a bacon, spinach and onion quiche (pie 264!)
After we loaded up the car, we began our drive south to the Oregon border. We’d heard that there might be whale sightings along the coast and so we pulled into one of the viewpoints along the highway and parked the car near the bluff overlooking the ocean. We sat there and watched for about half an hour and did not see anything and then tried to start the car only to find that we’d left the lights on (it’d been foggy before) and our car would not start!
My husband thought we should call the company that provides our towing service and he went to find out where we were on the highway (specifically what mile marker). And I started thinking, how can we get someone to just give us a jump? I looked around in the car and found a brown paper grocery bag and used it to make a sign that said, “Got Jumper Cables?” I met my husband at the entrance to the viewpoint and showed him my sign and asked if he would stay with me for a few minutes while I “begged” for help. He said he’d give my “sign” 15 minutes before he was going to call the towing company.
It felt so strange to stand on the highway with a sign as people zipped by… it gave me a small idea of what the homeless folks experience each day that they do this. Fortunately as one truck drove by, I saw that the occupants waved. That was nice because most folks didn’t even seem to look at me. But I was determined… after all I didn’t think I looked too pathetic… and I had faith in the human race.
And my faith was rewarded for we were very lucky that the couple who waved came back to help us. They told me that while they could not really read my sign, they kept wondering what it had said and just had to go back to see. Thank heavens! We were on our way in no time and I gave them a couple of free coupons for Dutch Bros. Coffee… which they seemed happy to have. How wonderful that they were willing to come back to help us! I hope that there will always be people like that who are willing to help others that they meet along the way.
PS An update on pie 262: As we passed the border between Oregon and California I stopped to ask how agent Greg liked his mixed berry pie. The agent on duty told me that the pie had been much appreciated and that a few of the agents had taken some home for Christmas. I was thrilled… and as I walked back to our car a few of the agents called out “Thank you” to me. As we continued our ride home, all I could think was “this has been an absolutely amazing day.”
Pie a Day Give Away 