Ryker

HeLLa

Nope, virtually no damage that wasn't already there!

"Done" "Seeking Record Player" "Yielding" "Wounded Beast" "Tougher Than Thou"

Any idea who it was?

Yeah, the Mini's the GF's -- boy did she luck out! And yes, as it is a Subaru (F.I.), we simply tipped her back over and she fired right up.

This is what I awoke to Friday, morning after high school grad night. (Wretches!) Cops, media -- the whole circus showed up!

Good girl...

I finally figured it must refer to the 'all doors lock' electric doorlock -- activated by locking the drivers' door... Then again, I've never found a way to disable this 'feature.'

Mmm, roast beef... Gus Balon's... Mmm, sticky bun...

We gotst the 24-hour hook-up: Fry's at Grant & Alvernon! As for the rampant potheads--er--holes , they're road features designed with driver alertness in mind! Definitely buzz Eli and I if you're ever on your way to town again.

That Forester is teh hawtness!

Hell yeah! I'm there!

Did I mention how precarious the whole thing was?

Happily! It was a calm, beautiful night in the hills outlying Tucson. We took Eli and Jessica's Honda wagon, gingerly navigating it as far into the trail (marker 4436 out Redington Rd., for anyone up to the challenge ) as possible. We unloaded our extraction gear (one chain, 10-foot; 1 come-along, 1-ton; 1 fuel pump, pulled from a Loyale; electrical wire; 1 tank of gasoline, 2 gallons; 1 shovel; 1 pick-axe head; 1 hammer (alas, not a BFH); misc. tools; and 2 dogs, 1 Siberian Husky, 1 mutt) and started hikin'. Roughly 3 miles of treacherous terrain later, we reached the beached beast, her windows glowing nobly in the moonlight. It was determined that the come-along would be useless -- if you think it's possible to bury a tire (hell, an avocado) in the desert mountains of Tucson, I've got $50 and a nugget of gold that says you're a damned fool! :-p Thus, the best course of action was to try rolling the car backward down the hill and cutting back toward the road. Cactus carnage commenced -- no barrel or prickly-pear would be spared in the intended path of travel. Next the Loyale's fuel pump was cannibalized by my famished 'ru, hard-wired beneath the hood to the battery. Eli took the wheel while Jessica and I spotted him -- but even in spite of vigilant E-brake application, the 'ru slid and skid off-course, well beyond our designated trajectory. At this point, it looked as though there would not be enough space left to reach the road by continuing backwards before the 'ru would cascade over and down an escarpment of boulders and be dashed by a craggy gulch! How far we'd come! We made the nail-biting decision to go for it. At this point we opted to try creating an anchor for the come-along so that we could keep tension on the 'ru and maybe even drag it laterally some. For this task, we employed the pick-axe head, which we hammered into the ground by turns, flush behind a reasonably-sized rock, which nobody would probably call a boulder. I moored the 'ru to the anchor via the come-along at the passenger's rear tow point: no sooner had me made the line taught than our anchor's seating began to crumble. Meh. Eli cut the wheels hard, inching the 'ru backwards while I kept close watch along the edge. The wheels skirted right along the rim, negotiating crevices and boulders, the whole shebang nearly tipping to the driver's front wheel, but the success was ultimately ours! ...until the car lurched to a halt it could not be jostled from. Closer inspection revealed that we had landed the driver's rear half-shaft upon a big friggin' rock, which some might call a boulder. Woe! Now while I may have given up at this point and gone to find food, we had Eli with us, and once this fellar sets his mind to something, you cannot and will not stop him. To whit: we jacked the car up by the driver's rear tow point using a scissor jack (fortunately, I had two in my 'ru). Eli dug and we jiggled the rock around with the shovel. Then I suggested we remove the tire -- and we did. Eli dug and jiggled some more. Then Jessica suggested we raise the axle by compressing the strut with the other jack -- and we did. More digging and jiggling, Jessica and I 'overseeing' and providing constructive criticism... :-p And out comes the rock! Go Team Venture! Hence, the 'ru backed up on its own power and onto the road. We took inventory of our gear, loaded up, and exuent rescue team, Eli at the wheel in honor of his dedication and heroism. Bash--smash--screech--krunch! A good deal more damage to the rockers later and sounding like a lawnmower after taking a flying leap onto a lone, inconspicuous rock that bashed-in the Y-pipe flange (according to our wheelman and PERPETRATOR! ), we the crew of Shamaru rolled on out of trail 4436 and on to become legends!

Hoorah! She's back home, somewhat 'worse' for the wear! I hate to say it, but although we took two cameras, we managed to come back without a single picture documenting the precariousness. By the time we got out there, it was dark anyhow, so no picture would have done the precarious nature of the situation justice. Thank-you all for your suggestions and support through this entire precarious ordeal! Oh, and to all you roadweenies :-p ... COME ROMP IT PRECARIOUSLY IN THE TUCSON MOUNTAINS WITH ELI, JESSICA AND I!