Sunday, April 20, 2008, 4:00 p.m., D.S.T., Nashville, TN~

Dear Journal~

Just got home not even fifteen minutes ago; we are going to have to hoof it if we want to make it to tonight's services at church.

We would have been home by three; seems I had a bit of an accident with our bus while we were trying to leave Fire Mountain.  I was the one driving.  Entirely my fault; there's nobody to blame but myself.

Somehow I hung the bus on the curb where you exit the restaurant.  Misjudged, I guess.  Ran over the darn thing; hung the bus.  When I tried to move, I couldn't; kept digging myself in deeper.  Only thing I succeeded in doing was spinning the wheels, slinging mud/dirt/grass all over the parking lot.

Nice. 

I knew we were stuck, but good.  Louie kept asking me what happened; I kept telling her, "I don't know!"  We knew we were going to have to get some help in order to get us out of there.

The kids were wondering what was going on.  The little ones started crying.  The older ones started laughing or seeing if they could be of help.  I told them to stay on the bus; they couldn't help me in this situation. 

Louie wasn't helping any:  she started laughing too when she saw the potential for hilarity in this situation.  Her numbskull husband hung the bus on the curb; there was no way we could get off the curb without a.) a miracle or b.) expert help, in the guise of AAA or a towing service.

I had the wife and kids go back into Fire Mountain while I figured out what to do next.  I knew this was beyond my expertise.  I had buried the wheel halfway into the sod; I was stuck like chuck.

For over a half hour I waited for the towing service.  I was wondering if they were even going to show up; if they did I was wondering if they could get us out of the hole I'd managed to dig. 

I was also wondering if we'd be able to make it to church tonight in time for the evening service.

By now there were many people standing around the parking lot, wondering what on earth had happened.  Some were even taking pictures.  Great! I remember thinking, if this ends up in the newspaper, I'd be famous (for all the wrong reasons).

Somehow I expected CNN or the Today show to show up unannounced.  Let's get an interview with this idiot who managed to underestimate his turn and managed to get the bus he was driving stuck on a good sized curb while trying to exit a local eating establishment.

I could see it all now.

About forty five minutes after I'd called, the AAA crew showed up.  Was I ever glad to see them!!  They didn't say anything (much); they just hooked their lines to the bus, got into their vehicle, and eventually towed it off of the curb. 

No damage to the bus, thank the Lord (I'm surprised!!), but the parking lot sure has a nice scraped up area.  Yup.  Did it good!

Now we're home, and the family is still giving me grief.  All they have to do is look at me before they start bustin' a gut laughing.  Make me feel more like an idiot.  Where's the family support when you need it the most?? GEEZ!!

Needless to say, I may have to look into hiring a bus driver to drive us around from now on.  Might save me on gas.

Not to mention, the bus itself.  D'oh!!

~Bill Sandusky, idjit. :P