Regular readers will recall that last month I wrote about good people who stopped to help when my wife and I had a breakdown by the side of the road in a remote and mountainous area. Well, it's happened again in almost the same spot!

We moved our home and office from Bryson City to Waynesville last month. I Was taking the last trailer load of office equipment up Route 74 when a wheel fell off the trailer. My young helper, Chris Monteith, was at the wheel as we felt a jerk. "What's that!"he said.

"Oh, we've just downshifted, " I calmly replied. But we knew better when we glanced at our mirrors. Chris saw a wheel rolling along by itself crossing the four- lane divided highway, and I saw a shower of sparks as our broken trailer dragged along the pavement.

We were stuck good; no houses in sight. We couldn't jack the trailer up because the Blazer's jack slipped. I Wondered if we could fix the problem even if we were able to jack the trailer up, as the rim seemed to have split in two and the tattered lug nuts had just been squeezed through the holes in the rim.

Well, things worked out thanks to a Bands of Angels that seem to rove through the area. I called my wife Daisy on the new cellular phone to say we'd be a little late and to have her stand by to help. Called the motor club, but they declined to help because they don't do trailers. Called a tow truck and organized a professional fix.

While this was going on, a fellow stopped to offer us a ride or make phone calls. He was very nice, but we were covered for the services he offered. By the way, he showed us three of the biggest trout I have ever seen. Caught 'em on the Cherokee Reservation near downtown Cherokee.

As the good Samaritan left, a new flight of angels landed. These were two burly guys, dressed for work. They specialized in trailer delivery and used a 2 x 6 to lift the trailer. They repaired our wheel with a few hand tools, discarded the broken brake rim, which served no purpose anyway. This was messy, black grease work.

I offered to pay and was refused. Not only did they not accept money for the labor, they pointed out to me that I had dropped a $20 bill on the ground.

What can I say? I'm a lucky guy!

Written by ..Bill Serle You can contact Mr. Serle at (828) 452-5280 He lives in Waynesville, NC

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