We don’t get too many synchronicities from truckers about trucks. So this one by Jim B.breaks the mold.
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Back in cold February, I was chugging up Highway 75; when suddenly right before Ohio Gulch, the rig started behaving badly. Turns out it was the transmission, and even though a mechanic-friend had recently gone over it with a fine-toothed comb, it was shot.
That cost some big bucks; and then, only a few weeks later, the truck started misbehaving again, at that exact same spot. As locals know, Ohio Gulch is the turnoff for the dump transfer, and just north is where the State sometimes sets up weigh stations. It’s also essentially the last good place to pull over safely; if you’re heading north with a big rig in the area, and it breaks down.
The second breakdown was caused by a fuel pump problem. I thought it was strange and yet a little fortunate that the truck decided to break down at the same safe pullover spot twice. Then I remembered; fifteen years ago, I was driving a rig full of rocks for a stonemason, and that truck broke down at the same spot. I had loaded Gene’s truck to the brim, with four and ¼ tons of river rock. As we approached Ohio Gulch, his truck started thumping loudly from the right rear. I pulled over and soon saw that the wheel had actually rolled out from its base, while the lug nuts whizzed off like bullets in the wild-west sage. Although the tire and rim had shot off, it had miraculously wedged into a corner of the truck, keeping the masonry rocks from spilling out.
As I hitchhiked to the East Fork jobsite, passing over Greenhorn Bridge, I became thankful that the truck had not decided to shuck off its rock, back to the river there. I wasn’t looking for that type of legend on my resume.
It’s funny; every time I drive past that Hyndman Creek house with a friend and see those river rocks shining so intact, I feel compelled to pull over, point at the stones and tell this story.
And it makes me curious to hear about other people’s experiences of breaking down at same spots.
And while we did laugh later, Gene told me, when he saw me walking the last leg of Hyndman, two hours late and with no truck, he thought, “This can’t be good.”
Obviously, some force wants *you* to stop at this particular spot. I'd being looking under the ground, not to the sky above.
Have you researched the history of the spot before its connection to the dump? Any weird things that happened to construction crews while the road was being built? Was the road built over an unmarked family cemetery? Indian tribes that considered it sacred ground? Your connection to anyone else that broke down in the same spot?
Freaky.
A few weeks ago, I was in this same proximity, dumping off an old mattress at the transfer station.
While up there, the garage-type back door of my work van became stuck open so bad that I could not shut it. Since I had another job scheduled, I tied everything down that might come loose and headed back out on the highway.
As I pulled out, I gave the only other vehicle in the area a wide breadth to get around me, but he would not pass right away. I felt as though he was checking out my open rear door and might try to flag me to inform me it was open.
Finally, as he passed, I noticed that he was driving a service vehicle for Overhead Door repair company! He was probably checking out my broken door. At the next intersection the light conveniently turned red, giving me enough time to write down his number.
The amazing thing is that he passed me, right at the same spot, where I've broken down thrice before. As I pointed out to a friend, he was a helper. And come to think of it, now, all four times that I've experienced mechanical difficulties at the Ohio Gulch "Bermuda triangle for trucks" eventually, a helper has always come, to great assist.
After discussing this with the friend who has great insight, she asked me, "What colors do you see in the sky when you break down?" I don't understand what that could have to do with anything regarding the breakdowns, but believe me, whenever I notice anybody else experiencing trouble in that area, I study the sky, thinking of her intriguing question.
Perhaps, someday, I'll be the helper for someone else in this area who is experiencing a breakdown, and tell this tale to them as we try to fix whatever problem they are having, as we bide our time.
Here is the Bermuda Triangle of Central West Virginia:
https://hillbillysophisticate.blogspot.com/2009/04/bermuda-triangle-of-central-wv.html
Jim B…
Loved your story. Synchronicity abounds in dreams as well, such as dreaming a red truck might be going to have an accident at a particular spot and then seeing it in waking life in the future, but that's more like precognition. In this truck case, if it were experience I might wonder if there is some connection subtle energy transfer. I have heard theories of how it is suspected that places and/or things (rocks?) can absorb the energy of an event that occurs there, like a Civil War hospital where many died painful and unhappy deaths, or a spiritual site which brings cures to believers, so soaked in actual cures that occurred there that joyful awefilled energy surrounds it. I'd wonder if the breakdown place may have some special significance for me, since I was protected from real harm, though inconvenienced in getting to wehre I wanted to go other than under my own poweron foot.
You are a wonderful writer and lover of the earth…thanks for sharing your thoughts and this blog. RD
I think Utah Savage created a new term for truckers!
too too funny! great response!
Bermuda triangle for trucks! I love it.
The Bermuda Triangle for trucks.
yes, true –
Or a vortex?
almost like a magnetic energy field there? very neat story!
This story is similar to accidents that happen at the same spots. Or like other events that happen repeatedly at the same locations – lightning striking the same house twice, that sort of thing.