Sierra Adventure

For months my friend's son had planned his mother's surprise birthday party. Rented the hall. Arranged for food, drinks, decor. People came from far and wide, as the saying goes.
My trip was only to be about forty miles long and taking about that long. So I got into some finery and began the drive. The weather was lovely and I was really enjoying the trip.
Close to my destination I noticed the road was extraordinarily rough, although it looked smooth. Ahh, a flat tire! Let me pull over and check it out. As luck would have it the shoulder is about two feet wide there, the road curvy. After a couple hundred feet I could pull over and checked on the damage. Forget damage. The tire was totally shredded.
Not a problem. I'll get on my cell and call AAA. Oh, wait, I rarely get service in those hills. That day was no exception. My next thought was to look at the shoes on my feet, to see how far they would take me.
I was able to hail a truck with an antenna hoping he'd make a call for me. The driver, who works for the water company, gave me a ride to the roadhouse/saloon up the hill. From there I was able to call road service, my family, and the birthday girl to let her know I'd be late. (Someone had already spoiled the surprise)
When the tow driver came to pick me up, he told me he took a guess at coming to the restaurant as he'd been told I would be waiting at a hair salon, he knew there are no salons in those hills. I guess old ladies don't wait at saloons!
So, back to the car, trade out the wheels, sign on the line, an hour later I'm at the party.
A fun party it was, too. I met all the cousins and friends I'd missed up to now, got reacquainted with those I already knew. We partied into the night at her house, after the hall time was over. I was the first one to the house and I noticed a deer. As I was walking toward it to get a closer look, others drove up and the deer bounded off. She really does live in the woods. Lovely.
So on Monday I made my way to the Les Schwab Tire Center, the replacement tire cost 50% of new, although I only had seven thousand miles on it. I'm happy with that though, I thought I'd have to pay full price anyway.