Thank You God for Protecting My Parents!

Just a quick note...if you know my parents send a "thank you" up to God today.  He totally saved them yesterday as they traveled to Arizona.

They were hauling the boat (5000 lb) behind the truck.  My dad is always extremely careful and profiecient with trucks and trailers (he used to drive a milk delivery truck and now he drives a bus and every fall he drives an 18 wheeler for fun at harvest time, hauling grain from a friend's farm to the grain elevator).  So thankfully, he knows what he is doing!

Yesterday, after staying the night in Montrose, they took a smaller road to get back on the interstate.  This small road was bumpy.  When the boat would bounce, it would bring the hitch up on the ball which would make the trailer brakes come on.  They thought about stopping to check on the trailer when they reached the interstate but there was a stretch of slow going, flat road before the interstate and as they drove everything seemed fine.  So they just kept going.  They were rolling down the interstate at 70 mph when they hit a bump...and that was just enough that it dropped the bolt loose (that locks the hitch to the ball) and the trailer bounced off the ball, the boat hit the truck and then everything hit the ground. 

Now thankfully we have massive safety chains on the trailer, but the boat is so heavy, one of the chains broke.  And at 70 mph you can't just slam on your brakes because an unhitched trailer will likely make the whole unit flip.

So dad slowed down slowly, and pulled to the shoulder.  Here's where they saw the numerous ways God saved them.  1) 1 safety chain was still attached 2) the boat and trailer never swerved from straight behind the truck 3) on a road with no shoulder, when it was time for dad to pull over, there was a huge pull off 4) there is a 1/4 inch piece of steel on the bottom of the trailer tongue-that is what the trailer rode on when it fell off the hitch--the piece of steel got so hot it melted, but nothing else on the trailer was damaged.  5) the ball had some damage, but dad had another one on his bumper (the original ball is attached to a reciever that was added on the bottom of the truck made for hauling heavier loads) 6) dad and Stony had just replaced the balancing wheel on the front (a little $20 jobby) and that was enough to hoist the boat and trailer up to the bumper ball.  7) they had a couple matresses in the back of the truck that most likely kept the boat from doing any damage to the truck when it hit 8) dad stayed totally calm.  9) they were able to put it all back together and get back on the road in less than 30 minutes.  I know there are more, but I haven't had a chance to talk to mom and dad anymore today.

I've seen trailers come off trucks before--it is terrifying.  And so dangerous!  I am so grateful that dad knows what he is doing and that we were all praying for a safe trip and that God watched out for them physically and logistically.  Thank you, God, for protecting my parents!!