117 Don’t Wash The Sheets; It’s Just For To-Night

The last trip back to Walla Walla from GMG Logging was one of the more memorable events during my days as a college student. We had left our car with my parents as my dad had said he would take it in for an engine overhaul in Campbell River, while we were away at camp. The extreme dusty condition of the logging roads during the previous summer in Idaho had ruined the engine causing it to blow out a quart of oil every hundred miles.

It was with a sense of relief that we took off in what we thought was a trouble free car and another year a Walla Walla. We were soon to awaken to the contrary as we had only been a little over an hour and were just approaching Marysville when the engine started missing so badly that I had to stop along the freeway. I was quite frustrated knowing I had just spent plenty of money for a supposedly trouble free car and now what. I lifted the hood but could see no lose wires, or anything that needed fixing, so I got in the car and luckily it started. The engine sputtered on in fits and starts until I finally pulled off at Marysville where we just managed to coast to a stop near an older looking motel.

It was now dark and I was not a happy camper as here I was with a wife and two little kids, a broken down car and maybe a place to sleep. The only thing left now was to hope that the man who owned the motel could put us up someplace for the night as his no vacancy light was turned on.

An older looking gentleman answered the ring and greeted me with a pleasant smile. When I asked about a room he confirmed that he was full, but when I explained that I was stuck in front of his motel with a broken down car and a wife and my two little kids his face softened and he said he could give us his bed as his wife was out of town and he could sleep on the couch. “Wonderful,” I just about shouted, that is until he stated, “I’m not much into making beds as my wife is the bed maker around here, and if you don’t mind using the same sheets that my wife and I have been using, the bed’s all yours.” In view of the fact that we were on a very limited budget we said yes and climbed into bed with our cloths on. We did take our shoes off however. I can’t really remember where the kids slept, but it was still better then a night with them in a car and I don’t remember them complaining.

If I remember correctly the kind-hearted gentleman gave us breakfast the next morning as well as recommending a shop that could fix the car, just up the road from where he lived.

A phone call for a tow-truck and a coupe hours in a shop and we were soon on our way to Walla Walla.

It seems that the incompetency of the shop that had fixed our car in Campbell River was beyond normal comprehension. They had not only installed a set of new points incorrectly, so that a wire came lose, but they had also hooked the car battery up backwards. Boy was I relieved that it was only a simple fix, but I sure wouldn’t recommend the shop that had done the engine overhaul.

Life has its ups and downs and I suppose we are better off in the long run if things don’t come too easy. We can be thankful however when someone comes along from time to time to ease some of the stress and I will always be glad for the fine old gentleman who gave us his own bed, dirty sheets and all.