Older daughter Katie had what can only be described as a really, really bad day yesterday.
She was supposed to help guide a trip into Yellowstone. On the drive in, she hit something on the dirt road and literally ripped out the sidewalls of her two right-side tires. With one spare, she was stuck until she could get a tow.
It took eight hours to arrange a tow and AAA wouldn't cover it because it was way back on a dirt road.
She spent most of that eight hours on the phone, frustrated by bureaucracy, remoteness and the randomness of two blown out tires (she never did find what caused the blow-outs).
Hungry, tired and unhappy, she made more than one call to AAA. Although they couldn't send anyone out, they did connect her with tow companies. They also called the local sheriff who in turn called the Yellowstone National Park Rangers. Katie only knew that she'd talked with AAA.
Hours into the whole ordeal a National Park Ranger drove up, checking to make sure she was OK. Oh, and he brought a "care" package to help her out while she waited. Literally the ranger brought food, drink and a book. Out of the blue, just to make sure a stranded person was better off while she waited for help:
What an up moment in an otherwise crappy day. There really are some good people in the world. We here know that too, since we also know Park Service employees who go the extra mile.
She ended up getting the tow and then spent the night in her car at the parking lot of a Les Schwabb tire store. She getting new tires now and will be OK soon.
I asked her if I could share her story with Gavin and Alacia and the crew here.
