We had a fun ride from Hartford to Gatlinburg until we reached the mountainous roads that lead to our dream cabin. We trusted the GPS to take us there. We adapted to a more cautious driving mindset becoming less oblivious to the beautiful mountains around. Suresh was driving with extreme caution as we heard Lakshmi say"Turn right in 0.2 miles" while the curvy road didn't seem to be heading right at all!
Remember those times when your inner voice says, "Don't trust this!" and you still believe in that and finally end up like a loser! It was one of those situations! Suresh's inner voice was literally shouting at us " Screw the GPS! Take a look at the google maps printout to reach your destination". We decided to show our loyalty to Lakshmi at this point only to regret it later!
So, when Lakshmi said "Take a right", we obeyed her and realized in a few seconds that there was indeed no right to take. We ever-so cautiously pulled back on the steepy road and hit the main road once again. This time I had the itinerary print out in my hands.
Now comes the question: To GPS or not to GPS?
We had a bad call from Lakshmi. So took a hard look at the google map route. It was completely different from Garmin's version! What should we do now?
It was 7:30 p.m., the mountains were lonely and darkness was spreading. We thought about food, bear attacks and getting lost in the mountains and realised that we were in a situation that is not desirable at all!
Since there were no signs of fellow humans any where in the vicinity, we decided to trust the virtual companion. So, we listened to Lakshmi again and started climbing a steep road ahead.
Moving further up into the mountains at dark was quite scary. It was woods and rocks on one side and some log cabins on the other. We went to the end of the road, this time trying to take a left.
Again, there was no left. So, Suresh started backing and before we realized, the car was in a deep ditch!
We panicked and the passenger side of the car was already against the rocks while the driver's side was above the ground. Suresh tried to steer forward quickly, when we heard the mud churn and a burning smell stated to surround us!
I tried to remain calm and said "Please dont try anything further" and Suresh quickly added "Yes, Lets get out of the car now". So both of us jumped out of the driving side of the door.
This is where we were supposed to take left ???!!###@@@$$$
That is the place we were trapped in the car :-( ( Look for the yellow arrow)
I ran down the road looking for help. No one to spot. We tried to call the Cabin Rental head office and the answering machine greet us!
We came across a newly wed couple still in their wedding gown and suit. Not bothering them, I stood in the middle of the road, while Suresh was inspecting the car. Thats when Toby and Wanda, our guardian angels, were returning from a trip to the grocery store.
Toby, his wife Wanda and their three kids were spending the weekend along with their friend Ben and Trucey. Ben and Trucey have a beautiful log home up the hills, not far from the cabin we had booked. While the kids along with Ben and Trucey were spending time at the cabin, Toby and Wanda were rushing to join them for dinner.
These guys were the best. We don't have words to express our gratitude for them. They went out of their way , took an entire evening from their short vacation and gave it to us!
On that night, we learnt about going out of our way to help others.
Toby looked at the car and assessed it to be a mess :-(. He sent word for Ben to join us. So Wanda drove their truck back with the message and after 5 mts, we were joined by Ben, Trucey and Toby's teen son.
We discussed a while about man-lifting the car. So Trucey helped me pull all our stuff from the car. We dumped them into their truck. Leaving the rental car there with Toby, the rest of us hopped in the truck. Ben took us to the cabin "Lakshmi" was supposed to take us.
Suresh quickly unlocked the door and threw all our stuff inside. It was very dark now and close to 9 p.m. I didn't even get down to look at our cabin. It seemed trivial now!
On the way back, Ben called out for help and a few other men decided to help us and came out from their vacation home to give a hand at lifting the car.
Within 5 mts, everyone realized that the task was not do-able. So we went back with Toby and Ben's family to their vacation home.
Our first ray of hope came by when we met Toby and Wanda. Luck favoured us once again when Toby called a local towing company and they agreed to come by in the next one hour. We all were pleasantly surprised.
We all sat by the fire and were exchanging stories for around 40-45 minutes. Our new friends showed great warmth and made us feel at ease.
Toby's cell phone went loud and it was the towing company waiting near the ditch! The guys left me with the other ladies and the kids.
We were exchanging stories about India, Holland, Australia, arranged marriage etc. while the men were trying to pull the car.
After 30 mts, Ben came back with a smile and shouted "Hey Vidhya, your car is out. You guys can drive home safely". Those were the best words of the night. It was 11 pm already.
Shortly after, Toby was driving our car and Suresh was sitting beside him like the most obedient kid.
We had dinner with our friends, at their place , and were ready to check "Secludled Cabin" at midnight :-)
Toby made jokes about bear attacks and more ditches before waving good-bye to us. The men discussed for a while about the techniques the towing guys used to pull the car. It cost us $150 on that night!
Suresh pulled 300% of his attention on driving the car and now we know where the cabin is , thanks to Ben for a trip early that evening.
We parked the car. Suresh inspected it in the street light and looked like it was ok. Seemed like a miracle. We decided to check it again in day light the next day!
We walked into the cabin. With no energy left to admire it, we talked for a while about how lucky we were despite of the accident and how nice the family was. Then we crashed into the bed.
Oh, by the way, did I tell you it was Suresh's birthday? Well past midnight, I gave Suresh a happy-birthday hug and we went into a deep sleep.
More about the log cabin, rest of the trip in the next post, and yes, the adventure is not YET OVER!
We came across a newly wed couple still in their wedding gown and suit. Not bothering them, I stood in the middle of the road, while Suresh was inspecting the car. Thats when Toby and Wanda, our guardian angels, were returning from a trip to the grocery store.
Toby, his wife Wanda and their three kids were spending the weekend along with their friend Ben and Trucey. Ben and Trucey have a beautiful log home up the hills, not far from the cabin we had booked. While the kids along with Ben and Trucey were spending time at the cabin, Toby and Wanda were rushing to join them for dinner.
These guys were the best. We don't have words to express our gratitude for them. They went out of their way , took an entire evening from their short vacation and gave it to us!
On that night, we learnt about going out of our way to help others.
Toby looked at the car and assessed it to be a mess :-(. He sent word for Ben to join us. So Wanda drove their truck back with the message and after 5 mts, we were joined by Ben, Trucey and Toby's teen son.
We discussed a while about man-lifting the car. So Trucey helped me pull all our stuff from the car. We dumped them into their truck. Leaving the rental car there with Toby, the rest of us hopped in the truck. Ben took us to the cabin "Lakshmi" was supposed to take us.
Suresh quickly unlocked the door and threw all our stuff inside. It was very dark now and close to 9 p.m. I didn't even get down to look at our cabin. It seemed trivial now!
On the way back, Ben called out for help and a few other men decided to help us and came out from their vacation home to give a hand at lifting the car.
Within 5 mts, everyone realized that the task was not do-able. So we went back with Toby and Ben's family to their vacation home.
Our first ray of hope came by when we met Toby and Wanda. Luck favoured us once again when Toby called a local towing company and they agreed to come by in the next one hour. We all were pleasantly surprised.
We all sat by the fire and were exchanging stories for around 40-45 minutes. Our new friends showed great warmth and made us feel at ease.
Toby's cell phone went loud and it was the towing company waiting near the ditch! The guys left me with the other ladies and the kids.
We were exchanging stories about India, Holland, Australia, arranged marriage etc. while the men were trying to pull the car.
After 30 mts, Ben came back with a smile and shouted "Hey Vidhya, your car is out. You guys can drive home safely". Those were the best words of the night. It was 11 pm already.
Shortly after, Toby was driving our car and Suresh was sitting beside him like the most obedient kid.
We had dinner with our friends, at their place , and were ready to check "Secludled Cabin" at midnight :-)
Toby made jokes about bear attacks and more ditches before waving good-bye to us. The men discussed for a while about the techniques the towing guys used to pull the car. It cost us $150 on that night!
Suresh pulled 300% of his attention on driving the car and now we know where the cabin is , thanks to Ben for a trip early that evening.
We parked the car. Suresh inspected it in the street light and looked like it was ok. Seemed like a miracle. We decided to check it again in day light the next day!
We walked into the cabin. With no energy left to admire it, we talked for a while about how lucky we were despite of the accident and how nice the family was. Then we crashed into the bed.
Oh, by the way, did I tell you it was Suresh's birthday? Well past midnight, I gave Suresh a happy-birthday hug and we went into a deep sleep.
More about the log cabin, rest of the trip in the next post, and yes, the adventure is not YET OVER!
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