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George had said that the Blue Jays' cackling at Stones River was a bad omen... Unfortunately the last leg of a successful Civil War tour ended before the last leg to Moss Tenn. could be completed. A wrong turn on Tenn. hwy 56 led to a turn around on a steep drop off to a drive way. When the car bottomed out it suffered damage to the gas tank. The odds of it breaking the fuel pump are astounding but that's what happened. We coasted down a steep hill that we should not have been on, back to the friendly hamlet of Gainesboro population 900 at 7:30 Saturday night. To add to an already bad situation Tim's cell phone would work because of the hills that surrounded us. Gainesboro police officer Head came to our assistance as soon as we coasted into the Jackson County Courthouse parking lot. He suggested that we look for the fuel reset switch to get the car started again. His wife was kind enough to let us read her owners manual to her Camry which was the same type of car we were in. After a couple of experienced stock car drivers/mechanics offered assistance on the spot, were we towed at 9:00 to the J&J Garage and in 15 minutes had diagnosed the problem. It was indeed the fuel pump cracked by the impact. No parts to be found at that hour. They were nice enough to drive us to the only place in town alive at that wee hour of 10:00. Dairy Queen! The Story of the Goats plight had reached the manager before we walked in the door with our luggage. News travels very fast in a small town. We were able to eat, rest, and plan a rescue from the pay phone inside. We were safe but 4 hours from home. Help was on the way but the Dairy Queen closed at 11:00. We spent the next 3 and a half hours in the parking lot sipping our 32 ounce refills and emptying our bladders behind the drive thru. The 106th car to pass was George's daughter's. We arrived in Louisville at 8:15. Yes the break down was a disaster, but we met allot of kind people very willing to help total strangers. And oh yeah the pool hall in the town square doesn't sell alcohol but they still have Moon-Pies ! |
