Dear Mr. Sanchez,
My husband and I were traveling through your town on Friday, July 24, at 10:00 p.m. driving from Georgetown, Texas, to Lake Powell in Page, Arizona, when an axle on our boat trailer broke and subsequently caused the tire to blow and also the rim to crack. We were lucky to be able to turn into the parking lot of Henry Nails so that we were off the highway. Before we could call AAA, a young man stopped to offer his assistance. Even though we suspected it wasn’t just a flat tire, he got out of his car, crawled under the trailer with his phone light, and confirmed that it indeed was a broken axle. He asked if he could help further, but we declined as we knew we would need a flatbed tow.
After about 30 minutes, this young man returned to check on us and brought us cold, bottled water! During that visit, we asked his name and he said it was Billy. In further conversation, he said he was also a volunteer fireman and that he had returned from mechanics school in March.
After Billy’s stop, another man stopped to offer assistance, but again, it was more complicated than changing a tire. Soon after the second man stopped, ANOTHER man stopped that had his family in the truck and offered to change the tire. We were blown away by the kindness and felt safe, even though it was after 11:00 p.m. and AAA has not sent a tow.
As it was approaching midnight, Billy returned one last time to check on us and gave us the name of a tow company in town. Wow!
As the night continued, AAA totally dropped the ball and did not send a tow, even after multiple calls. My husband and I stayed in our vehicle the entire night waiting. After one more call to AAA at 7:00 a.m., we then called Billy’s suggestion, Tow Pros. Within 30 minutes, Carl contacted his driver Jerry, and we had a tow truck that would take the boat to the trailer repair shop we needed to get to in Clovis. Not only did we feel safe in your town, the owner of Henry Nails never once asked us to leave the parking lot, even as they were opening.
But wait- there’s more! On our return trip on Tuesday, August 4, we needed to get back to Clovis to pick up the now repaired boat and trailer, so we traveled all day and most of the night to arrive in the early morning of August 5. Because of the few hours wait, we decided to just sleep a few hours in the truck, pick up the boat/trailer upon opening, and then drive the rest of the way home. Because New Mexico has no restaurants open, we once again stopped in your town, this time for breakfast at the Dinner Bell. We were road-weary, looked pretty rough as we had only dozed in the truck the night before, and needed a good meal before continuing on. The young gal that served us was so nice and the owner (I am guessing) came out to make sure all was well. After we finished, we asked for our check and the sweet server told us it had been paid for by a patron that had come for a take-out meal! OH MY!
In today’s world of so much negativity, Muleshoe is definitely a bright, warm, friendly, giving and most helpful town. I do hope within your small town that you can find a way to thank Henry Nails, Carl and Jerry of Tow Pros, Allsup’s for the clean restroom in the middle of the night and no questions asked, McDonalds for the clean restroom and quick breakfast sandwich as we left town, the Dinner Bell staff, the man who bought our breakfast (the server knows who it is!) and especially Billy!
Gratefully yours,
Kelley and Bob Boldig
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