I am a tired puppy!
Is it possible to make a 10 hour drive without a little blog-worthy adventure?
Naah…
After about six hours of driving, I was filling up the truck at a gas station in the middle of nowhere in the plains of western Kansas when my phone rang. ABF was calling to say that the trailer had arrived at their Loveland facility. They said that they would need payment before they delivered it to the storage facility.
“We can take a credit card over the phone.”
My mind started racing…
If I do that, my bank might put a hold on my card! Talk about a purchase in an unusual area! And if I have to call them, I could be on hold forever…my cell phone might die…I won’t be able to buy gas! I am not getting stuck out here!
“No, I can’t take that risk. Can I call you tomorrow after I arrive in town?”
“Sure.”
Whew…bullet dodged!
At 5:30, I was about an hour east of Denver and it was raining very hard. Fort Collins is an hour north of Denver. The storage facility closes at 7:00. I called to them that there was no way that I was going to make it.
“Well, we will be open tomorrow at 7:00 A.M.”
“That won’t work. My daughter, son-in-law and grandson will be at the Denver airport at 10:00 tonight. (Remember, the ABF fiasco caused me to leave a day later than planned!) I have to unload my car so I can pick them up ”
The woman put me on hold. When she came back, she said that she would put the keys and a card with my code to get into the gate in an envelope and leave it in their mailbox.
We pulled up to the storage facility at 7:15. I hopped out of the truck and opened up the mailbox. There was that beautiful envelope! There’s the key to open the lock…and there are the codes to get in. Perfect!
I hopped back in the truck, drove over to the keypad, entered the code…
The gate didn’t move.
I read the directions a second time…
That’s what I did.
I entered the codes again…a little slower, making sure that I mashed every button thoroughly…
The gate still didn’t move!
At this point, I was so tired that my mind couldn’t race anywhere. But the reality of the situation was slowly starting to form…
That means that I will have to take the stuff from the car and put it into the hotel room…
Before despair could set in, a man walked up to the gate from the inside and said, “You must be our late arrival.”
“I am.”
“Well, we’re glad to have you. Just punch in the codes and come on in.”
“I did…They’re not working.”
“Are you sure?”
He came over and I entered them again while he watched.
“Hmmm. You did it right…Oh, she probably forgot to…”
I can’t tell you what he said because I was too tired to listen. All I know is that he brought out the forms that they needed me to sign and let me in the gate. We found our unit, unloaded the car as fast as we could and then headed for the hotel.
As we were checking in to the hotel, my son volunteered to go pick them up.
I was too tired to argue but still managed to squeeze out a VERY weak, “Are you sure?”
We entered the room at 8:00 P.M. He took an hour nap and then hopped in the car and headed back down to Denver.
As tired as I am, I have the satisfaction that I accomplished my goal. I felt like I needed to get to Fort Collins by July 1 and I made it!
