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I actually had a wrecker call, back when I was in the business, to get a car out of the ditch on Green Swamp Road.

Middle of the night, driving rain, lightning walking about... I had turned in for the night, but work in the towing & recovery line is when and where you find it, so I turned out, fired up the '73 Weldbilt, and headed out.

Pouring rain and high winds- could hardly see to drive- I turn down Green Swamp Road, and the first part is paved.
So far, so good... start reading house numbers- the number I had was 'way far away, and sure enough, the paved road turned to graded dirt.

About halfway down the dirt road- the number I sought was 'way down the line- my headlights started flicking. Stopped, checked fuses & breakers- all OK.

I roll on- lights still flickering, but on enough that I can sort-of see to drive.

A mile or so of this, and while still looking for a number that has yet to come up, I pull up to two kids walking in the rain....son of a gun! They were the ones who called me, so they pile in, soaked, of course.

They tell me their car is "yonder over the railroad tracks" and I get a sinking feeling that the road is going to get a lot worse- and sure enough, "yonder" the road changes from graded, county-maintained dirt to... a logging road.

Ruts a foot deep. High center. Ditches on either side flooding over the road.

Even though the wrecker has dual rear wheels and a Dana-70 locker, I am very dubious that we can get through, and naturally the car is not near, but a mile or so "yonder..."

Well, we slip & slide until we find this junky old blue Camaro nose deep in a ditch- how the Devil they got that far before getting stuck is a wonder.

I hitch a J-hook to the axle, start winching- and the wrecker starts sliding into the ditch.

This is not unheard-of, so I get out the Scotch blocks, jam the wheels, and drag her out.

I get these 2 boys unditched, remind them that my fee ( as I had on the phone ) was $20... and had a few bad moments when they went through all their pockets, the glove box, and the back seat, and managed to scrape up 20 $1 bills... just barely.

I made them go ahead, in case they got stuck again, drove back to the barn, and forever more called that particular call to Green Swamp Road "the ride to Hell and back again."

And the headlights needed new circuits run to fix that flickering problem...