The front wheel drive on my Ford 4X4 pickup goes out while exploring the area on the south rim of Tenmile Canyon, west of Moab. I’m stuck there for the night.
The next morning I am up before the sun to begin my 16 mile hike back to civilization. When I finally hit the Island-In-The-Sky and Deadhorse Point road, temperatures are nearing 100 degrees and I am out of water and strength. A RV full of non-English speaking, tourist from Holland stop and give me a banana and a warm can of 7-Up.
Later I catch a ride with a Moab resident named Charlie who drives the dirt roads at a neck-breaking speed while large tanks of welding gas bang around in the bed of his pickup. Charlie drives me out to my truck and tows me to flat ground again. Now I can drive back to town on my own.
God bless the Charlies of this world.
Oh ya – and Dutch tourists too.