Several years ago my daughter Sarah and I decided to make the trek of to Vanderpool for the TBOT Hillcounty shoot. She and I loaded up all the essential clothing items and set off. I often have to fly by the seat of my pants due to working around the schedules of active kids and a wife that works odd hours and days. Being what it was Sarah and I had no clue where we were going to lodge or if it was to be available. A typical situation for she and I to be in so no worries as Dad always came through somehow.
We arrived on Saturday morning and started to make the rounds visiting with friends, clients, vendors and fellow archers.
I managed to keep my money in my pocket until Sarah stumbled upon Neeta Fran and Bill Ward's concession of jewelry. That girl negotiated like a Egyptian slave trader and ultimately got what she wanted out of me and the Wards.
Something about blonde haired girls with big pretty eyes I guess.
I finally got to shoot the course and did so with Ron Foley, a good friend and client of many years. Now Sarah has never been bitten by the archery bug as I had hoped she might but she always indulged me on these trips in hopes of gaining something she liked. To tell the truth Sarah liked all the trinkets that I bought her along the way. She did however have her own motive for going other than spending time with Dad. It seems that Sarah loved swiping all the bars of soap, shampoo and any other toiletries that were furnished with our stays. (She is going to kill me for that one)
. That young lady had a put together a collection that would make Paris Hilton jealous.
I shot one round on Saturday as intended and all went well. After that Sarah and I made the rounds visiting will all our old friends and ended up having dinner in Utopia with Ron and Teresa Foley. After that she and I set off to Leakey where we had managed to reserve a room earlier that day by cell phone. Upon arriving Sarah was shocked to find out that the place we were staying at was an old style Inn and not a motel which meant limited goodies for her and no television.
The next morning we made it back to the shoot only to be greated by some cold wet weather. I was determined to get that second round in but Sarah wasn't as game as I. She decieded that she was going to stay behind and visit with Ron and Teresa. If I remember correctly, (and I do) I had given her some money and she had began working on a negotiation strategy for more jewelry. I went on to work my way through the soggy course only to return cold and soaked to the bone. I was greeted by Sarah and the Foley's and noticed Sarah was snug and warm in an afghan that Ron and Teresa had so kindly offered her.
After awards were handed out we got in my 1995 GMC Yukon to make the wet and miserable trip home. Being cool and rainy the windows inside the truck beagan to fog up and so I managed to turn on the defroster but to no avail. It turns out the control unit that changes your system from a/c to heat and defrost etc. had somehow quit working. Sarah and I were forced to constantly wipe the windows off and drive a bit. We repeated that process numerous times and made slow and dangerous progress.
Things went better when we would hit an area between downpours as I could roll the windows down and keep the fog off the windows. A rare occasion on this trip. We made our way to Sabinal and on to hwy 90 when the bottom began to fall out. It was an all out frog choking rain and the radio weather station indicated no end in sight.
We slowly made our way toward San Antonio when we suddenly hit a patch of water and skidded blindly out of control and into the ditch. After the truck stopped and came to rest in running water up to the floor I shifted into 4 wheel drive and worked on getting us out of a bad situation.
I finally managed to get us safely onto the shoulder of the hwy and just sat there. Knowing Sarah had to be back for volleyball pratice I could feel the noose tightning around my neck and my wife was doing the tightning. This was turning out to be another one of my nightmare trips my wife had always talked about.
I could see the fear in my daughters eyes where before there was none. I couldn't do it, I could not continue this trip and put mt daughters life in danger.
Now I am sure some of you may be thinking what an idot, all he had to do was.... Well trust me, I tried everything to keep the windows from fogging up and with zero success. We sat there for a while wondering what we were going t do and what we were going to tell Mom. Then it happened.. I had an epiphany... I knew what to do...
I crawled over the front seat into the back and retrieved my duffle bag from the cargo area. If I remembered right I had a travel size can of Barbasol shave cream and so I rifled through my belongings. I found my shave kit and found that unmistakable red and white can. All I could think was "God please let it be full." A little shake and I knew my prayers had been answered.
Some of you may be thinking has Terry lost his mind? What does shaving cream have to do with foggy windows? Lay off the meds, right...
Well, alot of you may not know that I am a licensed master barber/instructor and have been a PADI, NAUI and YMCA master scuba diver for many years and there is a little trick I had learned long ago associated with these two endevers.
I took the can of shave cream and smeared it all over the inside of windows. Once applied, Sarah and I began to remove it with whatever dry articles of clothing we had in our bags. There is something magical in that white foamy goodness that prevents windows, glass and mirrors from fogging up. Barbers use it on mirrors and scuba divers use it on there masks.
Sarah and I found immmediate relief from the fogged up windows and saw crystal clear all the way home. Safe and sound.
And that is how shaving cream saved our lives..
Just for you Dusty Hundt..
Note: I was originally going to write this story for TBOT but figured nobody would read it. So, if you got this far. Thanks, I hope you enjoyed it[/B] 
We arrived on Saturday morning and started to make the rounds visiting with friends, clients, vendors and fellow archers.
I managed to keep my money in my pocket until Sarah stumbled upon Neeta Fran and Bill Ward's concession of jewelry. That girl negotiated like a Egyptian slave trader and ultimately got what she wanted out of me and the Wards.
Something about blonde haired girls with big pretty eyes I guess. I finally got to shoot the course and did so with Ron Foley, a good friend and client of many years. Now Sarah has never been bitten by the archery bug as I had hoped she might but she always indulged me on these trips in hopes of gaining something she liked. To tell the truth Sarah liked all the trinkets that I bought her along the way. She did however have her own motive for going other than spending time with Dad. It seems that Sarah loved swiping all the bars of soap, shampoo and any other toiletries that were furnished with our stays. (She is going to kill me for that one)
. That young lady had a put together a collection that would make Paris Hilton jealous. I shot one round on Saturday as intended and all went well. After that Sarah and I made the rounds visiting will all our old friends and ended up having dinner in Utopia with Ron and Teresa Foley. After that she and I set off to Leakey where we had managed to reserve a room earlier that day by cell phone. Upon arriving Sarah was shocked to find out that the place we were staying at was an old style Inn and not a motel which meant limited goodies for her and no television.
The next morning we made it back to the shoot only to be greated by some cold wet weather. I was determined to get that second round in but Sarah wasn't as game as I. She decieded that she was going to stay behind and visit with Ron and Teresa. If I remember correctly, (and I do) I had given her some money and she had began working on a negotiation strategy for more jewelry. I went on to work my way through the soggy course only to return cold and soaked to the bone. I was greeted by Sarah and the Foley's and noticed Sarah was snug and warm in an afghan that Ron and Teresa had so kindly offered her.
After awards were handed out we got in my 1995 GMC Yukon to make the wet and miserable trip home. Being cool and rainy the windows inside the truck beagan to fog up and so I managed to turn on the defroster but to no avail. It turns out the control unit that changes your system from a/c to heat and defrost etc. had somehow quit working. Sarah and I were forced to constantly wipe the windows off and drive a bit. We repeated that process numerous times and made slow and dangerous progress.
Things went better when we would hit an area between downpours as I could roll the windows down and keep the fog off the windows. A rare occasion on this trip. We made our way to Sabinal and on to hwy 90 when the bottom began to fall out. It was an all out frog choking rain and the radio weather station indicated no end in sight.
We slowly made our way toward San Antonio when we suddenly hit a patch of water and skidded blindly out of control and into the ditch. After the truck stopped and came to rest in running water up to the floor I shifted into 4 wheel drive and worked on getting us out of a bad situation.
I finally managed to get us safely onto the shoulder of the hwy and just sat there. Knowing Sarah had to be back for volleyball pratice I could feel the noose tightning around my neck and my wife was doing the tightning. This was turning out to be another one of my nightmare trips my wife had always talked about.
I could see the fear in my daughters eyes where before there was none. I couldn't do it, I could not continue this trip and put mt daughters life in danger.
Now I am sure some of you may be thinking what an idot, all he had to do was.... Well trust me, I tried everything to keep the windows from fogging up and with zero success. We sat there for a while wondering what we were going t do and what we were going to tell Mom. Then it happened.. I had an epiphany... I knew what to do...
I crawled over the front seat into the back and retrieved my duffle bag from the cargo area. If I remembered right I had a travel size can of Barbasol shave cream and so I rifled through my belongings. I found my shave kit and found that unmistakable red and white can. All I could think was "God please let it be full." A little shake and I knew my prayers had been answered.
Some of you may be thinking has Terry lost his mind? What does shaving cream have to do with foggy windows? Lay off the meds, right...
Well, alot of you may not know that I am a licensed master barber/instructor and have been a PADI, NAUI and YMCA master scuba diver for many years and there is a little trick I had learned long ago associated with these two endevers.
I took the can of shave cream and smeared it all over the inside of windows. Once applied, Sarah and I began to remove it with whatever dry articles of clothing we had in our bags. There is something magical in that white foamy goodness that prevents windows, glass and mirrors from fogging up. Barbers use it on mirrors and scuba divers use it on there masks.
Sarah and I found immmediate relief from the fogged up windows and saw crystal clear all the way home. Safe and sound.
And that is how shaving cream saved our lives..
Just for you Dusty Hundt..
Note: I was originally going to write this story for TBOT but figured nobody would read it. So, if you got this far. Thanks, I hope you enjoyed it[/B]
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