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witpqs -> RE: THE THREAD!!! (4/16/2012 4:56:10 PM)
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Is there no snow on dirt roads in Belgium, or are there no dirt roads left? No comment about their guide from San Diego. [8|]
quote:
4/15/2012 11:42:00 PM
When a road trip turns into a disaster...
Paulden residents rescue stranded tourists
Lorenzo de Lichtervelde pushes the mired minivan as Laurence Delle Vigne tries to drive it out of the mud on Forest Road 492. The tourists did their best to move the van, but were unsuccessful until Jeff and Jesse Bivins showed up.
Courtesy photo.
Scott Orr
The Daily Courier
PAULDEN - It was intended to be a fun road trip to see the Grand Canyon and then a national park in Utah.
But the fun ended on March 18, when a massive snowstorm struck northern Arizona and the six tourists-five Belgians and one American-driving from San Diego in a minivan, became stuck on an unpaved road.
Lorenzo de Lichtervelde said the group found I-40 closed due to the snow, with police directing traffic to return to Prescott.
"Unwilling to lose time and our hotel reservations," he said, "we made the very bad decision to try to reach Williams, despite road closures, by taking detours through roads starting near the Drake cement plant" near Paulden.
It wasn't long before the minivan was stuck in deep mud on Forest Road 492. Panic began to set in as the sun dropped lower and lower on the horizon.
"It was scary," said de Lichtervelde. "It was getting cold and dark."
The group sent two women on foot to go to the plant for help, and the remaining tourists, two men and two women, tried to free their vehicle. They ended up covered in mud and cold, wet snow.
In the dark, the small group began to realize the magnitude of their situation. The minivan was not going anywhere and they were trapped on a remote dirt road with no way to get help.
Just when they had given up hope of freeig the minivan, a big pickup truck driven by two men appeared.
Jeff Bivins and his nephew, Jesse, had seen them from a distance and headed over to rescue the tourists from the mud.
"They were quite glad to see us," Jeff said. "They were tiptoeing around in the mud."
"What surprised me the most," said de Lichtervelde, "is that instead of judging us and scolding us, as I would have expected, these two men were infinitely nice."
The pair set about pulling the minivan and another vehicle mired nearby out of the mud.
"(Jeff) even crawled under our car, in two feet of freezing mud, to attach a rope to the frame," he said.
"It was really, really, really cold out there," said Jeff's wife, Ronnie. "They probably would have frozen."
She said Jeff returned home "covered in mud from his head to his toes."
"I don't think they realized what kind of trouble they were in," said Jeff.
Once back to the paved road, the Samaritans invited the group to their home near the cement plant, where they found the two women who had gone for help, covered up in blankets and holding warm drinks.
Ronnie "offered us blankets, drinks, and food as well, and even offered to let us stay the night in their home," de Lichtervelde said.
De Lichtervelde said the group tried to give them money, but they wouldn't take it.
"They certainly saved our trip," he said, and "very possibly our lives."
"It's good for karma, I think, " said Jeff. "Maybe someday when I need help, God will send someone my way."
[image]local://upfiles/14248/796CD00A2427445C9E978D269DA2B7AB.jpg[/image]
quote:
Lorenzo de Lichtervelde pushes the mired minivan as Laurence Delle Vigne tries to drive it out of the mud on Forest Road 492. The tourists did their best to move the van, but were unsuccessful until Jeff and Jesse Bivins showed up.
Courtesy photo.
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