Caught in a holding pattern

Have you ever flown somewhere, had a long layover followed by a delayed departure or a cancelled flight? Wait, walk the terminal, read, walk again, eat over priced fast food, read, stare at people, make up stories about people, maybe actually talk to some people, walk again…and repeat.

You alternate between relaxed, hey it’s a mini vacation might as well enjoy it, frustrated, don’t they know I have places to go, trapped, the terminal is only so big and there are only so many times you can walk around it…and repeat.

Last week the wee Rover sputtered out a complaint and refused to go. A few calls later and Darrell, the amazingly wonderful tow truck driver from Kregel Towing & Recovery, came to our rescue. He put the wee Rover on his very large flat bed and drove us to Outlaw Motors in Newcastle, WY where Jason, our night in shining armor, pretending to be a mechanic, was nice enough to squeeze us into to his schedule the following Monday.

Newcastle, WY, the gateway to the Black Hills (from the west), the wild west train hub town, a small town trying to survive, like every other small town in America, a town one would normally just pass through. We were in a holding pattern.

Was this a delay? A layover? A cancelled flight?

Small Rover issue? Catastrophic? End of trip?

We walked every road in town, we visited the local museum, we walked every road again, we ate fast food, watched TV, walked some more, played cribbage …and repeat. We felt relaxed, hey what could we do, we felt trapped, there are only so many roads to walk, and surprisingly we felt lucky…

A town we normally would have just passed through taught us about the local coal industry, it’s proud history and team spirit (Go Dogies), fed us pancakes at a community breakfast followed by a parade for the weekend mud bog, and quite simply reminded us what small town America is all about…people.

People raising their kids, trying to keep their community alive, helping each other through the latest bust while hoping for the next boom. People who offered us rides and use of their cars, people who waved at us when we walked by for the tenth time, and stopped what they were doing to chat, and the wonderful ladies at our motel who were amazingly kind.

And we met people like us who were here for just a while. A team of archeologists who were working on federal land who offered to share their dinner and stories, a couple of motorcyclists on their yearly ride, and a civil engineer here for 6 weeks working on a water project.

All this we would have missed, yet there is still the feeling of being trapped. Ok relax, read, walk, eat junk food…and repeat.

Oh, and the wee Rover is just fine. Some small plastic thingee broke. The new parts are in and Jason will have us back on the road again tomorrow!