Tera Leigh

Today I had big plans to go to a baseball game in Oklahoma City, but it was the Playoffs and the series ended last night. So, with my plans gone awry, I decided to take advantage of the afternoon light and drive the country roads looking for some good places to shoot. I’m always canvasing areas, learning the roads better, and looking for new places to photograph. Today I found a great little bridge that I’m sure you will see in a Portrait session soon!

My view of the road after night fell.

About the time the sun was setting, and the light was fading to the point that getting pictures would be tough, I decided to turn towards home. Using the car GPS, I turned down the next road heading in the right direction.

In my defense, I’ve driven about 200 miles in the past two days alone, and I’ve never found a road that was impassible that wasn’t closed. So, when I turned down the dirt road, and I saw the abandoned washing machines and other appliances, I figured that I would just have to go a mile or two, hit another road, and get back to the highway. In the mean time, I was looking for a spot to turn around, but instead of finding a driveway or entrance to a nearby property, the road narrowed and worsened. I had big ditches on either side of the road, and now I was worried about being able to turn around.

The farther I got down the road, the worse it got . . . and turning around was seeming like the more dangerous option than just using my four-wheel drive and getting to the next cross-street. That was a great plan, until I hit the mud! Not just a little mud. Huge puddles of it!

Within a minute, I was stuck . . . and I was in the middle  of nowhere with bugs the size of Volkswagen’s swarming my lights. . . . have I mentioned how much I really hate bugs?

I pulled out my cell phone, grateful for reception, and made a few calls. Among the many things I love about Oklahoma is my church (Prague First Assembly of God), and the people that attend there. I put a call into a friend from church. He was out of town, but he called someone else, while I called my Pastor. As darkness fell, I had a truck on it’s way to me to pull me out, and I had another truck with my Niece’s husband, his son, and friend on their way to help push, pull, or otherwise get me out of the mud, as well!

Digging out rocks to try to level out the ground for my rescuers truck to get some traction!

When the reached me, it became obvious that the road in front of me was worse than the road behind me, and they would have to backtrack, and drive around behind me and pull me out backwards. It was a bit of a challenge to find me, but soon they were there, and after attaching a rig of some sort to my axle, they pulled me out of the mud. I asked Ron (my niece’s husband, and a local police officer – someone I know to be very competent at such things) to drive while they pulled me out. He was able to do that, and get my little SUV turned around (because driving backwards through the crazy road was not going to happen!)

With very little fuss, we were back on the road and driving out towards an actual paved road . . . and then, my rescuers got stuck . . . this time on a rock, not in the mud . . . but we were stuck behind them because the road was not wide enough for us to pass. (Big ditches on either side of the road where it washed away.) So, for the next 90 minutes, six men – by this time, another truck had come to try to rescue my rescuers – were pushing, pulling, digging, and generally standing around looking manly and confused.

Ultimately, we left both trucks; one parked, and one stuck on a rock, until tomorrow. The third truck took two of my rescuers home, and the rest of us hiked out to where my nephew had left his truck. (Not a 4×4, and therefore not going to try to make it down that crazy road!)

The good news is that I got a few good photos while I was out today. The bad news is that I still have to get my car out – and past the point where the other truck got stuck – tomorrow. I think my car will also be going in for a check up, and a new oil filter. It deserves it. In five years, this is the first time my four-wheel-drive hasn’t been up to the task to get me out of the many sticky situations I get myself into in the pursuit of photos, fun, and sometimes, both.

Below are a few photos from my hour out on the road before the Oklahoma red mud decided to stop my progress!