Uh Oh! Truck Trouble In the Middle of Nowhere: The Kindness of Strangers

Dave and I honeymooned in Grand Marais, Michigan so have fond memories of the beautiful lakeshore and tiny town.  It is 18 miles from Grand Marais Michigan to Muskallonge State Park where we camped, about 12 miles are unpaved and bumpy and there isn’t much traffic.  Luckily you can see dust plumes a long way from any oncoming traffic!

I drove back to camp after evening Mass in Grand Marais when the truck just stopped.  No warning, no slow down, no funny noises, no smells.  It just stopped.  I was 3 to 5 miles from camp by then and the car that was right behind me zoomed away super fast.  There was zero cell service.

I grabbed the gallon of milk that I got in Grand Marais and started walking.  Luckily for me a very kind couple from Mount Pleasant saw me right away and gave me a ride back to camp.  Otherwise it would have been a couple of hours and Dave would have been frantic!

Dave called the insurance company who got Middleton’s Towing in Engadine to come get the truck and take it back to Newberry (which is 28 miles from the campground.)  Ashley Robinson, Middleton’s owner, picked up Dave first, then got the truck.  She had to drive a few miles past it just to find a turnaround spot.

Originally she thought about leaving the truck until later but decided to come get it right away when Dave told her I’d not turned on the emergency flashers.  She was pleasant and business-like and prompt. Luckily no one had hit the truck!

Monday Dave called Newberry Motors about repairing. They had it fixed the next day.  Turned out the problem was a giant chipmunk nest and the critters had chewed through the covering on a couple of wires causing them to cross.  (We keep the truck in the garage to avoid the critter problem but had it out since camping in June.)

Newberry Motors sent Dave, a contract driver for them, who got me right on time and took me into town. There I paid for the truck, stopped at the store for bread and lettuce and went back to camp.

Overall we were fortunate.  Given the remote location and dearth of traffic I could have been walking for an hour or two, or possibly no one would have picked up a lady carrying a jug of milk.  The towing lady was quite busy and extended her day for us and the dealership did a good job promptly to fix the truck.  Had we not gotten the truck fixed I don’t know how we would have gotten the 5th wheel home, or even moved to a different site in the park if we were delayed beyond our leaving date.

I owe a special thank you to the park personnel.  The cell service in the park is good enough that we could hear a call, but not good enough that the person on the other end could hear us.  The park people let us use their phone to call the towing folks, then the dealership and they took messages for us too.

Thank you to the Mount Pleasant couple who took a chance picking up a stranger (and her milk), Ashley from Middleton’s, the driver Dave, Newberry Motors and the park staff for making what could have been a miserable experience as pleasant and easy as possible.