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Locked Out, but Not Defeated: Eva’s Vacation Test of Resilience · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

0:02
Welcome to the Propane to Purpose radio show.
0:05
I'm your host Viva Fulton. In this show we explore the
0:09
incredible journeys of resilience, healing, and
0:12
transformation. In each episode, we will sit
0:15
down with individuals good face unimaginable struggles and turn
0:19
their pain into power, heartbreak into hope, and their
0:23
challenges into meaningful change and finding new purpose
0:27
in life. Through candid conversations and
0:30
inspiring stories, we will uncover how pain, whether
0:34
emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual, can be the catalyst
0:38
for profound growth and a deeper sense of purpose.
0:41
So if you are looking for motivation, insight, and real
0:45
stories of triumph over adversity, you're in the right
0:48
place. Let's get started on this
0:50
journey from pain to purpose. Let's give veterans a voice
0:54
through military broadcast talk. Hey, welcome, everybody.
1:01
I had some time, so I thought, you know what?
1:05
Let's go ahead and host a show today, man, I could I've got a
1:11
story to tell you. No doubt, no doubt, no doubt
1:15
'cause I think anybody that I've told my story to what has
1:19
happened to me on this beginning part of my vacation this past
1:23
week, They were like you did what that what happened?
1:28
It's it's been a little crazy, not gonna lie, little Cray Cray
1:32
this week. So, so today is Saturday,
1:37
October 3rd. I have to look at the calendar
1:39
on the on the screen. You know, when you're on
1:42
vacation, you just kind of lose a sense of time and, and that's
1:48
where you have to kind of track where am I?
1:50
What day is it? What is happening today and this
1:55
back half of my vacation has been really enjoyable and
1:59
raxing. I had no agenda.
2:02
I'm up in Wisconsin visiting a friend and his family and I, you
2:08
know, we did Apple affair today. So I, I borrowed my friend's mom
2:13
and said hey, we need to do some girl time.
2:17
So that's what we did and you know, going to Apple affair.
2:22
So anyways, what happened? My whole purpose of the vacation
2:28
this past week was to go hunting.
2:31
So a hunting I did and I had a phenomenal time.
2:36
You know, I, my, my purpose in it was, was multifold.
2:44
That's probably the best way to say it was multifold going into
2:48
hunting. So you guys know, I've been a
2:50
hiker and, and I, I kind of chuckled in a way hearing my
2:56
intro video because I was like, Yep, I did that.
2:59
I did that. I did that resilience, you know,
3:02
and that's where you kind of find the metal that you're made
3:06
of. But my purpose on coming on the
3:09
on my vacation was to go hunting.
3:12
But I knew it was a great opportunity to do other things
3:17
besides just the hunting because the hunting was planned for
3:23
arrival in Gillette, WY on Monday.
3:27
Go to the range. Tuesday was to go hunting,
3:32
Wednesday was the maybe a second day if I needed to go hunting
3:37
and then Thursday, you know, so the Wednesday, Thursday we're
3:40
kind of in flux, if you will, on whether I got a kill or not and
3:46
then picking up the meat and all that kind of stuff.
3:48
So everything actually worked like very, you know, to plan on
3:55
that. So I'll start out with the
3:57
hunting story because the but before I even got to Gillette
4:04
was where all of the major stuff happened, right?
4:07
This this story that I'm my bear, not bear story is what I'm
4:11
calling it my bear not bear story.
4:14
And in this kind of a plan words because bear with me.
4:18
I bared a lot and it had nothing to do with the grizzly bear,
4:24
right? Even though the, you know, food
4:27
boxes were there, the steel, you know, bear boxes were at the
4:32
campground said nothing to do with bears per SE.
4:37
But how much can you bear? And anyways, it was crazy.
4:44
So to say I survived it was was kind of an understatement.
4:51
So anyways, getting back to the hunting side of things, I'm a
4:55
single mom. One of the things that I've
4:58
always kind of had in my, my brain was to be able to provide
5:05
for my family. Even though my my kids are all
5:09
older now, they're doing all their own stuff.
5:13
I for me and my self-sufficiency side of things, I've always
5:20
wanted to go hunting. I grew up with my parents
5:25
hunting when I was little. But of course, my sister and I,
5:29
we hung out and we were little. They kept us in the truck where
5:35
it was warm with blankets and pillows and stuff like that.
5:38
So I didn't ever get to experience hunting from the I, I
5:42
got to get outside of the truck and actually go hunting and
5:46
tromping through the woods in Colorado.
5:49
That's where my, my parents went when I was little.
5:53
But I have had the sense of I, you know, I enjoy the outdoors.
5:58
This is just part of who I am. I, I have, I've gone hiking lots
6:04
of times. I finished Maryland hiking on
6:07
the Appalachian Trail, finished Maryland last year.
6:10
I have not done hardly, I've done no hiking this year, not
6:14
going to lie, done no hiking because I had other, other
6:17
things that I was doing. Still getting some activity in,
6:21
but and I've done part of the Camino twice.
6:24
So hiking has been part of my thing, but I think I was always
6:28
missing some of that disconnect. There's got to me more to the
6:32
purpose of of we hike and then what, right.
6:41
I'd probably have been a gatherer for much of my life.
6:45
I've grown garden. So, you know, that's part of the
6:47
gathering side of sea side of things, oils, essential oils,
6:53
you know, that's still a gathering side of things.
6:56
But I haven't ever done this hunting thing.
6:59
Oh, I have fished. I, you know, I go fly fishing.
7:03
Haven't been in a while, but I have been fly fishing.
7:06
I've done some other fishing, but I'd not, you know, this has
7:10
been like the elusive sport for me.
7:12
I didn't ever have the opportunity to go hunting and
7:18
Brave Souls United offered this great opportunity.
7:23
I am part of their staff now, so I'm very honored to be the only
7:30
female so far as a part of the staff.
7:32
And my goal is to develop a women veterans program, maybe
7:39
merging some of this concept of the skills that we've learned in
7:43
the military along with the hunting, you know, hunter
7:47
gatherer, right? We got do the hunting side of
7:50
things. But I told Steve and and then
7:54
when I would talk with Pat, I said, listen, I want to be a
8:00
part of this, but just understand I've never gone
8:02
hunting, which I think actually is a great, great way to build
8:09
the program because I'm doing it from the Ground Zero, right?
8:13
And I'm having to listen to different men because that's
8:19
what I'm, you know, that's what I'm doing with different men on
8:22
the how I haven't understood, you know, how do you, I could I
8:28
can pull out of my purse right here.
8:31
We're right here. It's one of these pockets.
8:36
Nope, not that one. Where did it go?
8:39
Here we go. I have last year's and then I
8:42
just got it in in August because remember, I was, I was on the
8:45
East Coast for a while, but I and if you're in Texas, you're
8:50
100% disabled veteran. Guess what you get this is the
8:53
mega license, right? This is the mega license.
8:58
So I've known that I I had the ability to get this, but I
9:03
haven't known how to hunt right. What it what do you get?
9:10
What do you get with a Texas mega license?
9:13
There's these are all different tickets for different species of
9:18
animals. There's two mule deer, 1212 wild
9:25
Turkey, spotted sea trout, one red drum, 2 white tailed deer, 1
9:37
bucker anterless 1 and 2 anterless.
9:42
And I think that's it. But the endorsements include
9:49
upland game bird, migratory game bird, archery, salt water and
9:54
fish, water, freshwater. All of that's included on this
9:58
mega license. So I've known and I've been,
10:01
I've had, I've had my license. I, I've been getting it almost,
10:06
you know, quite a few years now. Other than fishing, I didn't
10:10
know how to do these other things.
10:14
So that's always kind of intrigued me.
10:17
Well, now that I do this, so, you know, I've kind of been
10:19
doing some research on, well, what places can I as a veteran
10:25
go? And I found out from Brave Souls
10:29
United that, you know, some of these other states do things.
10:33
They offer opportunities for veterans, especially 100%
10:36
disabled veterans to go hunting. And I'm like, yes, I'm in, I'm
10:42
in. So I had a really neat
10:45
experience going out. So I arrived in Gillette Monday
10:52
afternoon and I will get back to why I didn't get there until the
10:57
afternoon, but but I got to Gillette at about 4:30 in the
11:00
afternoon. The rest of the story is coming,
11:03
I assure you. So just bear with me.
11:05
Let's get through the hunting part of it.
11:09
And then so I we went to the range, the guys took me to the
11:13
range and it's a 7mm. I don't have the pictures up
11:17
right now, but I'll share a picture later.
11:20
Matt, the sight on that, it was magnificent.
11:23
You could see everything. How you could not shoot with a
11:28
sight like that, I don't know. Pat had he he was coaching me
11:32
through and I did pretty well actually I did the farther I got
11:37
back the 200 and the 300 I did better than the than the 100.
11:42
But part of it I think is also familiarization with that
11:46
weapon. So like, what kind of a shooter
11:51
am I? I have a pretty I have a pretty
11:53
good shot group. I was sharpshooter in the Army
11:59
one year. I did get expert, but for me
12:02
it's all about the right lens prescription.
12:04
So finally got, you know, good zeroed in on a good eye
12:09
prescription this year and you know, it made a huge difference,
12:13
right? Part of that, being able to get
12:16
the right sight picture and looking at everything right is
12:19
huge. And then it was breathing
12:21
control. Learning the breathing control
12:25
or just remembering it, I guess really breathing control because
12:29
I haven't picked up a rifle in in a minute right.
12:35
So anyways, that so got familiarized did very well.
12:39
They even had a little metal target and here hit inside this
12:44
10 by 10 if you can get inside the 10 by 10.
12:46
He had me shoot at the head part bingo right there close to the
12:50
middle and that that was the right place.
12:53
He goes well, just remember that.
12:54
So we woke up really early. I, you know, I am a central zone
13:00
here. We were in mountain zone.
13:04
So I got up early, got my coffee going and, you know, waited for
13:09
them. We rolled out close to five I
13:13
guess and drove to our site for where we were going to go
13:18
hunting. It was on private land, but when
13:21
we rolled up as we crossed through the gate, you know,
13:25
there's the, the, the gate it anyways, there's the stuff, the
13:31
grates on the ground to get through so that critters can't
13:36
get onto the roadway, right. If they try to go through the
13:39
gate, they can't. You know, the cattle guard is
13:43
what those things are typically. But because there was cattle
13:46
there too on that, on that private land.
13:49
So as we crossed over Steve looked over, I think it was
13:53
Steve that looked over way and saw.
13:57
And so we were hunting on antelope and there's another
14:03
name I always forget what the other something horn.
14:09
Anyways my friend calls them goats.
14:14
So anyways, looked over there, there was a buck and three doe
14:19
they were, you know, probably where we were sitting in the
14:22
truck would have been close to 500 yards.
14:25
So we did get out, went down when and navigated back up
14:31
through the little Creek channel that was right there.
14:34
It was dry, but this little riverbed and stayed underneath
14:41
the little ledge right there. And Pat got the tripod set up
14:47
and he, he, I, you know, got his scope out to figure out how far
14:53
it was and got the gun set up for me.
14:57
And they weren't building around.
14:59
I had to still get my breathing down.
15:01
I was a little nervous. It was my first time and just
15:05
watched them, right? I just was waiting for the right
15:07
moment. They weren't skittish.
15:09
I think we think one of the doors, you can tell by the
15:12
video, one of the doors may have hurt us.
15:15
I did my phone connected. Maybe I could even pop that up
15:18
here in a minute and I may go to commercial here in a little bit
15:22
and we can, I'll play with this and get the get the see if I can
15:28
get the video and play it. And then I just waited for, for
15:34
that buck to turn right 'cause I knew what to look for.
15:38
There's the, you know, little white shape underneath the chest
15:43
area right there. Knew they told me 'cause I had
15:47
watched a couple of videos, even from the archery side of things.
15:51
I didn't do a whole lot of homework, so I didn't over I
15:54
don't think I over prepared, but I did enough preparation that I
16:01
knew what kind of to expect based upon what they were
16:05
telling me. So everything was kind of
16:07
hitting home for me and I so I was just watching the buck and
16:12
the three doe kind of meander around.
16:14
He was kind of wanting to chase them a little bit.
16:16
This was just pre dawn and I caught him just right.
16:21
Little the doe, she had scratched and I think peed right
16:24
there. He decided to paw at her pee and
16:29
then he was leaning forward to, you know, pee on top of her pee
16:33
market, right? But I caught him just right and
16:38
and and there went there went. I woke up that morning thinking
16:43
one shot, one shot. And by golly, that's what I did.
16:50
So, you know, I didn't. Maybe I'm weird.
16:56
I didn't get grossed out on any of the cutting and you know,
17:02
scraping out of the insides or anything.
17:06
I, I think there was just this, this is kind of nature circle
17:11
going, you know, taking care of it and there's nothing to be
17:15
grossed out about it. It's nature.
17:19
It is nourishment for me and my family, mostly for me because
17:25
it's only £35 worth of meat. But by golly I feel very
17:30
accomplished that and now I, I think part of it is the
17:33
confidence, right? Part of it was beer driven that
17:36
I had never done it. Now, do you know, go out there
17:39
and venture and do this stuff and then I got there and I did
17:44
it. I did it.
17:45
So anyways, I'm gonna go to a commercial and see if I can get
17:51
the video pulled up on the on that shoot and show you guys
17:57
what I did. I think it was like I said, I
18:01
had a really good time. So I will be back in a minute.
21:22
Love you daddy. Love you too, girl.
21:29
Hey, hey, welcome back to the Propane to Purpose radio show.
21:34
It is Saturday, October 3rd. I am your host Eva Fulton.
21:38
So I put on screen here the picture of me and Steve Morgan
21:43
with Brave Souls United and my antelope that I that I killed.
21:49
It was my first kill ever and just I'm super excited that I
21:55
got this opportunity to do this. And so now I'm going to add to
22:02
the screen the it's a little short, you know, couple of
22:07
minutes video of what Steve took of the event happening itself.
22:17
So I'd like I was telling you, you've got $1.00 and three dough
22:23
right there in front of us. I think Steve does a little bit
22:28
of editing or not editing, but a little commentary here.
22:33
They're up above us. We were there in the Creek bed
22:38
and I'm positioned to the right of Steve who's doing the video.
22:44
I was over to his right with Pat, so Pat was right beside me.
22:51
He had the seven mil rifle set up on a tripod.
23:02
It was quiet before the sun was really up.
23:11
So that's the buck in front of us.
23:16
You can tell he was going around sniffing.
23:30
So what you're seeing in those bushes, that is sage.
23:35
That is what they eat is sage. So they're out there for
23:38
breakfast. So that dough looks like she
23:43
might have hurt us. We were being really, really
23:45
quiet. You can see the sun's just
23:53
barely trying to come up. It's not very light out there.
23:57
We, we drove on property and it was dark still.
24:10
So the dough, you know, the dough's walked off and here's
24:14
the buck trying to. So in the meantime, what I'm
24:17
trying to do, like I said, is still trying to get my breathing
24:20
down. There's a certain excitement
24:23
that was building up to the moment and I just was, you know,
24:29
trying to trying to relax because don't think I wasn't
24:34
excited. But I told you, you're going to
24:38
lean into it and pee on top of her pee.
24:50
You didn't go very far. Kind of staggers a little bit
24:58
going down. He's down, he's down and the
25:08
doze run off one shot. I told you I woke up one shot
25:25
army of one one shot arm pet army of one pet one shot are
25:32
both Air Force and I look like a person coming to represent
25:39
Army's coming to represent. So that's that's exactly that
25:45
was my mindset. I was going to come in one shot.
25:48
I woke up that way. I was thinking positive.
25:53
Now everything else that I'm going to get to covering what
25:56
led up to get in touch a lot is a whole nother story.
26:02
But you know, it's pretty exhilarating the feeling the I
26:09
didn't get emotional. Like I said, I think I'm maybe I
26:14
must have this hunter mentality of, you know, it's, it's
26:20
biology, right? I mean, we have to take care of
26:23
our families and we eat protein. At least now I know where this
26:30
35 lbs of protein comes from. And I'm going to enjoy enjoy the
26:37
nourishment that it brings to my body.
26:42
And you know, there is there is the concept of you can't I, I
26:50
don't think we can really let all animals just keep producing
26:55
because and not ever eat animals because then we would be
26:59
outnumbered by animals. How do I know this and how do I
27:04
even come to that conclusion on things?
27:06
Well, a couple years ago I was driving back from Maryland to
27:10
Texas and I had two deer run out and hit my truck.
27:15
And I know one for sure passed away.
27:18
The other one I'm not so sure. But if there's not a certain
27:21
population control of things, then I'm live, then, you know,
27:29
we risk having too many animals out there and they are going to,
27:35
you know, they're, they're going to run into our vehicles.
27:38
And, you know, you drive on some of these country roads and many
27:42
places around the, you know, around the country, probably the
27:46
world. Then there's consequences to
27:49
having animals that are going to jump out in front of you and,
27:53
you know, hurt, hurt somebody, hurt vehicles, hurt people.
27:58
And that that creates a whole different scenario.
28:02
So anyways, just thought I would share some thoughts about how
28:06
the hunt went and everything. I feel very successful.
28:09
That's why I didn't have my show last Saturday.
28:12
So now what was happening last Saturday was, like I said, yeah,
28:17
that was an adventure in and of itself.
28:20
So I left Friday after work, left my house Friday after work,
28:24
got on the road, stopped a couple of different places and
28:28
got some sleep. Drove in Saturday morning and
28:34
saw my brother and his wife and three kids and or three of his
28:40
four kids in the Denver area. So that was really good getting
28:44
to see them and gave me some eggs and some veggies that I,
28:49
I'm still working on eating 'cause it was a big, huge
28:51
squash. So, and I haven't really cooked
28:55
like I thought I would cook on the road.
28:57
So headed, so headed up there to Yellowstone.
29:05
That was, that's been on my living list just like the
29:08
hunting side was. But I got to be able to, you
29:11
know, incorporate several different things off of my
29:17
living list that I don't call it a bucket list.
29:19
I'm not trying to kick a bucket down the road to die.
29:22
So I call it my living list and I lived through it.
29:27
I will put I will put it that way.
29:29
I lived through it. So I was so excited.
29:32
I got after leaving my brother's house, I stopped one or two
29:40
other times. I think you know, you, you drive
29:43
so many thousands of miles feels like thousands of miles.
29:46
It's hundreds of thousands. You know, you drive so far, you
29:50
start losing sense of, you know, which time zone am I am I in?
29:55
But I remember my brother told me, and it's going to be
29:58
important later when I get to the this part of the story.
30:02
Buy one of those. You know, you ought to get one
30:04
of those little buddies. And it's this it's this little
30:07
heater that that you screw in little green propane bottle
30:13
into. I'm telling my story, John on SO
30:19
got the show screwed. Screwed the propane tank on
30:24
little buddy. That's how you work it, right?
30:28
Pretty easy. So got what I needed in the town
30:31
and it was about 150 miles away from where my campground was
30:37
that night. So pulled in late and was
30:42
excited. Got in, got out early the the
30:47
camp post didn't even know that I was there because I got in at
30:51
9:30 that night and you know, just slept in the back pet the,
30:56
the back seat of my truck. That was the plan that I had
31:00
along. Even though I brought my camping
31:03
gear, I brought my, you know, normal hiking tent that I use
31:08
out on the trail. I brought all of my camping gear
31:12
with me, brought my sleeping bags with me, even though my
31:17
primary plan was, you know, sleeping in the back seat
31:21
because I knew the temperatures were going to drop.
31:23
Brought my extra battery pack with the heating pad that I have
31:30
used before at campsites in the tent.
31:34
But I had this set up for the, you know, to be able to do it in
31:38
the back seat and everything. The first night goes fine.
31:45
Wake up early now Sunday morning and decided to go ahead and head
31:54
to Grand Peton. So using my beautiful America
31:58
the Beautiful pass get through, you know, it's doesn't cost you
32:02
anything to get in as a disabled, you know, percent
32:06
disabled veteran or you know, just look, look on rec.
32:11
I think it's through recreation.gov you can get your
32:14
little America the Beautiful pass.
32:16
I have one in my wallet. I think I've showed you guys
32:18
before so you can get into these passes and they don't use the
32:21
pass and it doesn't cost you anything to get in to a lot of
32:25
these parks. So I had my I'm going to show
32:31
you had my phone with my my nice, beautiful 17X phone.
32:39
Pro Max yeah, see all the cameras here.
32:42
Pro Max I get out of this one place because there's like a
32:47
gazillion people there getting out to take pictures and I
32:51
probably can. I think I got I got it pulled in
32:56
on the camera, so I've had to do some finagling on on on some of
33:03
my stuff. I think I have a picture of is
33:07
the one I posted the other day for you guys.
33:10
All right, I got my bear, not bear story to tell you guys, so
33:17
come on, just stop scrolling. Scroll, scroll, scroll.
33:22
I don't want all these other things.
33:30
Yeah, I'm trying to get there. Maybe it's not going to let me
33:33
get there. It's not going to let me.
33:40
Yeah, All right. It's not going to come in for
33:43
some reason anyway. Oh, here it is.
33:46
Found it. All right.
33:47
So I get to this place and I see this view.
33:52
There's all these people out there, cameras.
33:55
Maybe these these people have the big professional cameras.
34:00
So I, I see this view too, right?
34:02
I mean, it's just the colors and everything just looking so
34:06
pretty. And I have my nifty Pro Max
34:10
camera, you know, iPhone out and I get out of the truck and I
34:15
start scampering down this little dirt hill with the wrong
34:20
shoes on. And I slid down the hill, bonked
34:25
my head and broke my screen. If you can see, it's like I like
34:32
I broke it broke it like it's, I know it's upside down.
34:37
Let's see you see all it's even all the flickering.
34:41
And it I like really, really broke it.
34:44
Really So how I managed to get the other two pictures on the
34:51
camera, I don't even know. But I really, really broke the
34:55
camera and I couldn't take pictures.
34:59
Couldn't I could only and I don't have my watch on right
35:03
now. It's charging because I have an
35:06
Apple dive Watch that the phone, you know, I have a separate line
35:11
phone number that connects with my cell phone to be able to make
35:15
phone calls. This isn't this is an important
35:17
part of the story, I assure you that.
35:24
So now I have a phone that doesn't work.
35:30
I do have a watch that works, but I can't take pictures and
35:34
I'm on vacation at a phenomenal place to take lots of pictures.
35:40
And yeah, no, no working camera, no working phone.
35:46
This is important. Just remember this is important
35:49
part of the story. So I, I am, I am injured and I
35:57
understand that slow movements are my friend, right?
36:03
But I'm here at a place where walking is part of the activity
36:09
and, you know, so how do you go and enjoy Yellowstone and seeing
36:17
all the geysers Old faithful? I saw a couple of other ones.
36:22
Remember I had probably a slight concussion that day and I I
36:28
stopped at the campground and got one of the old Kodak
36:31
cameras. So now I have a now I have a
36:34
camera that I'm going to have to go get processed.
36:37
It cost me, it cost me $30. I'm telling you, cost me $30.00
36:43
for an old, old fashioned Kodak camera.
36:46
The disposable Kodak camera cost me $30.00 at Yellowstone.
36:52
So I get that. I fixed some coffee on my
36:56
tailgate. I'm just all right, relax.
36:59
I was trying to make sure that, you know, I, you know, go ahead
37:05
and, and not push myself too hard.
37:11
I could tell that I had some probably some, like I said, some
37:17
thinking issues, cognitive issues, because I mean, I'm
37:19
pretty sure I had a slight concussion, but I knew that as
37:23
long as I wasn't throwing up, I hadn't passed out.
37:28
I just took it slow. I drank fluids, you know, drank
37:32
fluids and you know, but I, I, I did enjoy myself around
37:39
Yellowstone. I didn't go on the extra hikes
37:43
and stuff that I probably really wanted to do, but I did make it
37:47
around and see old faithful. I had barely missing missed it
37:52
the and when I first got there I didn't have my disposable camera
37:56
out when I walked up. So I went and enjoyed some other
38:00
stuff, saw two others. You know, there's the triple the
38:05
triple geysers if you've ever been there and who knew that
38:08
they're like a special app. You should watch the timing on
38:12
geysers if you plan on going to Yellowstone.
38:16
Apparently there's an app that you can download on your phone
38:20
that watchers geysers around the world and gives you the timing
38:24
on when they are going to go off.
38:27
I got really lucky when I sat down at the triple.
38:34
Was it called Turpin? I Turpin I think is the one that
38:39
they said normally goes off 1st and then grand goes off 2nd.
38:45
And there is a guy sitting next to me, him and his wife and he
38:50
had a special like little walkie-talkie thing that had,
38:53
you know, it wasn't his cell phone, it was something else.
38:56
And somebody had announced grand has grand has waves.
39:02
And about 45 seconds later grand like really performed for about
39:09
12 minutes and that was just phenomenal.
39:11
So anyways, that's that, you know, wrapped up the day, had a
39:16
really nice lady treat me to lunch.
39:20
She thanked me for my service and I was telling her about
39:23
military broadcast radio. She knows some veterans in her
39:27
family and stuff. And so it was really nice for
39:30
her to share the opportunity because I was not feeling less.
39:33
It was nice kind of having a walking buddy for that a while
39:38
and we walked through some of the shops together.
39:39
So everything's going pretty good.
39:41
I get back to camp. I'm just enjoying things.
39:45
I fixed my dinner, you guys settled in for the night and
39:53
guess what happens at like 2O clock in the morning And I'm
39:57
guessing I'm just telling you, I'm guessing it was like 2O
40:01
clock in the morning because I did not have my watch on.
40:06
It was charging. I decided to, you know what, I'm
40:11
going to go ahead and pack up. And hit the road.
40:16
I will go ahead and get to Gillette early because I knew
40:19
that I needed to get a cell phone replace.
40:22
I'd already spoken with my son earlier that I could talk to
40:27
through my watch and the and my phone plugged in through the
40:32
truck screen. I could actually call, but I
40:35
couldn't call from the phone directly.
40:38
I can't do anything on the screen.
40:40
I can't see any codes if they come through.
40:44
No, I, It's funny how you learn how you become very dependent
40:48
upon technology when you can't get codes and you're stuck like
40:52
Chuck. So I get this wild here, you
40:58
know, at 2:00 in the morning because that's typically when
41:00
I'm driving. I do a lot of my driving at
41:03
night, probably shouldn't say that, but I do a lot of this
41:06
driving And I because I have learned over the time,
41:08
especially even in the RV, I don't like having all the extra
41:12
traffic on the road, especially like when I'm pulling, like like
41:16
when I'm pulling the trailer, but I wasn't pulling one this
41:20
time. But so here it is.
41:25
I'm I'm just kind of walking you through the steps and things.
41:30
My watch that can make phone calls is sitting in the cab of
41:35
the truck. I got up, I had a night, I'm
41:40
probably telling TMI, but I had on my nightgown and I had on a
41:45
flannel shirt and I had shoes, no socks.
41:52
I went to the bathroom, came back, started making coffee on
41:57
the on my tailgate. I'm going around shutting doors
42:04
and I had put my phone and my keys there on the the center
42:14
console in my truck. And I barely shut the door,
42:20
heard the truck beep, engines running because I had it running
42:24
to warm up the cab because as soon as the coffee was ready, it
42:27
was going to get in and hit the road, right?
42:31
And I heard a beep and stereo's on and I'm locked out of my
42:40
truck. Locked out of my truck.
42:45
It's what, maybe 2:15 in the morning 0215 near Jackson, WY at
42:54
a campground. Grovent is how you pronounce it
42:58
is not gross Ventra. They pronounce it Grovent.
43:03
Grovent, Wyoming. So just it's just north of
43:09
Jackson. Beautiful area.
43:11
It's just South of the Grand Teton.
43:13
Apparently the area the campground is located where
43:16
there's a lot of moose that like hanging out by the river right
43:20
there. That was another photo shoot
43:22
place. I didn't get out of the truck
43:24
and go and enjoy because all I had was my disposable camera at
43:27
that point. So here it is, 2:15 in the
43:32
morning, maybe 3. Whatever.
43:34
I'm locked out of my truck with my nightgown, A flannel shirt
43:41
and shoes. That's it.
43:44
Yeah, literally, that's it. The back of my truck.
43:49
I before I went to bed, I had put my sleeping bag in the back
43:55
in the bed. That came in handy.
43:59
That heater that I told you while I go, my brother told me
44:02
to buy, that came in handy. So I I started out with a
44:07
sleeping bag and the ground mat on the ground and realized my
44:13
feet are so kind of cold. This is not going to be good.
44:16
Could have sworn I thought I felt a couple of raindrops fall,
44:20
but it didn't ever do any more than that quite yet.
44:24
And I'm like, OK, thank Eva. I kept pacing.
44:28
I could get my fingers through the top edge of the of the door.
44:33
And I knew don't shut it more, Don't shut it more.
44:37
And I prayed and I prayed. Oh, my gosh, prayed.
44:40
I prayed. Here it is.
44:41
The temperatures dropping. It did get down to at least 41
44:46
that I saw the next morning. But I'm standing there locked
44:51
out and you go through the military training in your head
44:56
and think, all right, body warmth, body got to keep the
45:01
body warmth. And if you don't keep your body
45:03
warm, I, I assure you, your mind does it starts playing some
45:10
things on you because then you're like, OK, what do I, what
45:13
do I do? What do I do right it and it
45:18
just, it kind of got scary and I thought about walking to the
45:23
office, but nobody's going to be there.
45:26
It's all going to be closed. I don't have any way to call
45:28
anybody. Everybody's asleep.
45:30
All the RV's are all quiet and if I, if I, and I thought about
45:36
what if I even go and trying to knock on another RVI hadn't met
45:40
any of them. Hadn't, you know, befriended any
45:42
of them or anything, 'cause I'd gotten in too late, didn't you
45:45
know? By the time I got back the next
45:47
day, you know, just things, just things.
45:50
So you don't want to just knock on an RV in the middle of the
45:56
night and what are they going to wake up with in their hand and
46:00
saying, who are you knocking on my door?
46:03
I just knew better. If I could make it to daylight,
46:07
I would be OK. So I thought, OK, how am I going
46:12
to MacGyver this, right? That's the whole lot of this is
46:15
just about how am I going to MacGyver this Army training.
46:21
I swear I'm so thankful I've had my military training because you
46:25
start thinking what are my options?
46:27
What are my options? So I, I put the fortunately the
46:33
tailgate was down because remember, I had been heating my
46:36
coffee up so that at least the when the door locked to the
46:39
side, I still had access to the whole bed of my truck with all
46:44
of my camping gear that I keep. I had food there in the, in the
46:49
cool in my cooler there. But I, I thought, I've got to
46:54
get in and get warmth. I keep a black land out, you
46:57
know, one of those land out covers over the bed of my truck.
47:01
So I pulled the cooler out and I was able to roll, you know,
47:09
unfold my sleeping mat out in the middle of of the bed of the
47:17
truck. I had gear over here.
47:19
I had gear over here and I had that little nifty, you know,
47:26
little Buddy Heater that my brother told me I had.
47:31
I twisted that thing on, got it going.
47:36
It was dark. I couldn't read anything.
47:38
Didn't you know? Nothing to shine light on.
47:43
I did have at least the a lighter back there because I had
47:48
to use the light but then had to use the lighter for the little
47:50
buddy and I. I felt buttons on the side.
47:54
I was like well what does this button do?
47:55
I push the button and and figured out how to get that lit.
48:00
So I found out that if it tilts sideways or you know if it tilts
48:05
anyway other than being up, it is going to auto shut off.
48:09
It is great for it says that it's designed for interior
48:15
heating if you need it for emergency purposes.
48:19
So you know, I'm I'm about what you see on this screen feels
48:24
like this hide is about what I had, you know, in the in the bed
48:29
of my truck between the land out cover and the you know, the bed.
48:34
So I was sandwiched in the middle and here at the end I had
48:39
the heater going and then I heard some more raindrops and
48:43
I'm running on time. I got to get through the story.
48:45
So heard raindrops grab my tent pieces out the bottom floor.
48:54
You know, ground cover didn't work.
48:57
Grabbed the fly and was able to roll it up underneath the
49:06
camping chair that I had packed in in the truck.
49:09
I was looking for the my hiking poles but they I found out the
49:13
next day I actually still had them in the cab of the truck but
49:16
I rolled the fly the tent fly underneath the chair that still
49:25
closed and I tinted it over the tailgate.
49:29
So basically, I enclosed myself in the bed of my truck with that
49:36
tent cover keeping the rain out, the heat from the heater and me
49:42
in the sleeping bag. Eventually got pretty cozy in
49:48
there. And then I just waited for
49:52
sunlight to come out and I could venture out and go find somebody
49:58
to get some help. So the story's not over yet.
50:03
The story's not over yet because remember, I'm still not in my
50:06
truck yet. I'm still locked out of my
50:08
truck. So I head to the bathroom and
50:15
this nice woman happened to be outside her RV.
50:20
It's like I what? I now understand it's like 7:00
50:23
in the morning because it's sunlight.
50:26
She and it finally had stopped raining because it did rain a
50:30
very good downpour that night in those few hours.
50:35
So I'm glad I was able to get it all, you know, figured out.
50:39
I did get rain, rain on the one sleeping bag.
50:44
It got wet and I had my second summer sleeping bag in there and
50:51
was able to be, you know, somewhat sufficient with that as
50:54
well. So I got out, went to, I was
50:56
head to the bathroom, found the lady and she said absolutely,
51:01
we'll help you. Her husband happened to be an
51:04
Army veteran. Also, she let me use her cell
51:08
phone. I called.
51:10
So maybe it's kind of a a warning order for folks.
51:12
I called what I thought was the GMC emergency roadside service
51:18
number. Apparently it was not the GMC
51:22
roadside service number. It was a scam number who wanted
51:27
prepayment and in advance. He wanted to charge me $225,
51:35
wanted at least half of it upfront.
51:38
And I said, I don't think you understand.
51:40
I don't have any way to pay you right now.
51:44
I'm going to have to call my son.
51:47
Was eventually able to get my son Joshua to answer this lady's
51:53
phone. She was member.
51:54
I told you she let me use her phone and he wasn't answering.
51:59
I left and I'm, you know, frantic kind of sounding
52:03
voicemail. Joshua, I really need, this is
52:07
your mother. I really need you to call me
52:09
back on this number. And if you get another number to
52:14
call you, it is the GMC hotline, GMC roadside service number.
52:21
And he gave his credit card number to pay 100 and 100.
52:26
I guess it was supposed to be 225.
52:29
He he paid 115. I would pay the rest of it when
52:33
the guy came on site to, you know, the locksmith to unlock my
52:39
truck. Well, in the meantime, so Josh
52:44
pays the 1:15, right? In the meantime, the campground
52:49
supervisor is driving around in his golf cart and he gets to my
52:53
campsite and I'm waving. Now I said, listen, I I need
52:57
some help. I'm locked out of my truck.
52:59
I'm probably getting a little frantic at that point, just I'm
53:04
supposed to be head. I was supposed to be already on
53:06
the road to Gillette. I'm cold.
53:08
I'm a little probably cranky, frustrated, excited, bad
53:13
excited, scared, right? That's a that's a thing to
53:19
getting scared, a little prideful, little ashamed, a
53:26
little like how the how the F did I let myself?
53:31
How did I and I didn't have any spares, right?
53:35
No keys, no spare keys with me. That's it.
53:39
I'm not, I don't, I did wasn't traveling with anybody else to
53:42
help me out of this situation. And I'm just at everybody else's
53:47
mercy. So the campground supervisor in
53:51
the golf cart happens to be an Air Force band, happened to be
53:57
an Air Force veteran. He called back to the office and
54:02
said, hey, we have a, we have a camper here.
54:06
She's locked out of her truck. She's been locked out since
54:08
tuition this morning. Can you call the other
54:11
campgrounds and see if they have any locksmiths available that
54:17
can come and unlock her truck? And they said, Yep, we found
54:25
one. His one of his workers drove
54:28
over in her golf cart $175. I said, OK, just let them know I
54:35
can't pay until I can get in my truck.
54:39
I don't want to call my son again.
54:41
I I can pay. I assure you I can pay.
54:45
I've even got cash. But I need to get in the truck
54:48
before you know, And so I I was very blessed.
54:53
The guy finally show. Oh, as there as they were giving
54:58
me the information about this other locksmith, the first guy
55:04
called back and once he says he said in a foreign language, not
55:10
going to lie about that in a foreign language, same guy in a
55:13
foreign language, I can't show up.
55:16
My guy can't show up. He's he's in a life or death
55:20
emergency at a doctor to help a doctor.
55:24
And but I have somebody else who can show up in about 5 hours for
55:30
$200 more. And I was like, so you're trying
55:34
to extort me for another $200 more five hours later.
55:38
And this is supposed to be the GMC emergency roadside services.
55:42
How is this equating to emergency?
55:44
Something wasn't clicking right and there's more to follow on
55:47
that in just a moment. So the the other campground
55:54
Spencer locksmith over who was going to charge the 175 like
55:59
less than two minutes gets in my truck.
56:02
So I told you you could get your fingers in there and he did his
56:06
little tool thing and then he didn't charge me anything.
56:09
He goes, I I can't charge you. He goes, this was too easy, I
56:14
was headed to the other town anyways and I cried, you know I
56:21
cried. So in the meantime Joshua calls
56:25
me back and says mom, they that other guy was not GMC.
56:33
They charged money for pizza on his card number.
56:37
Tried anyways, it got declined 'cause it was in another state.
56:43
My son lives in Texas. This was, you know, in another
56:46
state. Josh wasn't traveling anywheres
56:48
for Domino's Pizza and a meat market and something else.
56:53
And so he was able to get his money back.
56:56
They cancelled his card and, you know, issued him a new one.
57:01
And I'm so sorry, Josh. And he took care of his Mama.
57:05
So kudos to my son for taking care of me and the very nice
57:12
people aren't that Army veteran and his wife took care of me,
57:15
gave me coffee and I was able to get on the road.
57:20
I cried and isn't even thinking about it now.
57:23
You know, I cried. But it was all of my Army
57:27
training and lots of great people gardening with strangers
57:31
that I was at their mercy. And God, just be with me on this
57:36
trip and I go back home tomorrow.
57:40
I've had a great relaxing few days with my friend and his
57:45
family here. And the journey that I had with
57:49
Steve and Pat and getting the whole hunting experience.
57:56
Yeah, now I'm emotional because you can't understand pulling all
57:59
of this together and surviving. Surviving.
58:07
You know, I feel very blessed to have gone through it.
58:11
And then God pulled me through it.
58:14
And but my, but I, I really, I think it was my military
58:21
experience that gave me the skill sets to get through, to
58:26
remain calm under pressure, calm in a very uncomfortable
58:32
situation. And the rest of it was like, you
58:35
know, hunting was easy. Hunting was easy compared to
58:40
what I had been through the 24 hours before that.
58:45
So, you know, when we talk about from pain to purpose folks, it's
58:51
possible. Just make sure you get the right
58:54
mindset to go through the situation.
58:57
And I assure you, you are, you know, it's all going to make
59:02
sense. I do have a guest coming up next
59:05
week and I'm sorry, I can't, you know, because I'm
59:09
discombobulating. I even had to get a new phone
59:12
with a new cell phone number and I have you know, all everything
59:18
is kind of disjointed, but I do have a great guest academic
59:21
guest coming up next Saturday. So y'all have a great week.
59:25
Hopefully I'll be back here on the road again on I'll be online
59:30
of the with the Rivalist radio show on Monday.
59:33
With that plan is we will be on air Monday.
59:36
So y'all have a great day. Thank you for joining me with my
59:42
bear not bear story on the From Paint to Purpose radio show here
59:46
on military broadcast. You'll have a great week.
59:49
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59:53
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