The Summer of 81

I had finished building an old truck that I bought for $300.00 that summer and decided to give it a good test run by visiting some cousins that lived in the Ozarks. It was a 1963 Chevy with a 350 small block engine that I had over hauled and was anxious to see how it would handle a long drive. I had not seen my cousins since they moved there back in the early 70s nor had I ever been in that part of Missouri. It was a long drive and the truck was running great, very smooth and I was surprised by the power it had. The trouble began when I got within 60 miles of my destination, I took a wrong turn and ended up on a gravel road going thru some woods that eventually turned into a dirt road. I went about 10 miles without seeing anything but trees. I noticed my temperature gauge was climbing over 250 degrees and pulled over as steam was pouring out from underneath my truck. I opened the hood and when the steam cleared I saw that I had a crack on the bottom radiator flange that connects to the hose. I knew it was too far to walk back to the last gas station I passed so I decided to walk forward hoping that dirt road would lead me to a place where I could get some help. I walked for about 2 miles and started seeing signs nailed to trees that read " DANGER: MOUNTAIN LION PRESERVE "
I began to panic and then I saw another dirt road and a house tucked back in the woods.
I ran down that road and saw an old woman hanging clothes on a line and I told her my truck broke down and she told me to wait on the porch and that her husband would be able to help me. I asked her about the Mountain lions and she said, " Son, there are no mountain lions around here, my husband put those signs up to scare away people that were poaching his melons " I knew I smelled watermelons when I was walking down that road. While I was waiting for her husband, she made a drink for me in a blender consisting of 7up and watermelon and to this day remains a favorite of mine even though it makes quite a sticky mess.Her husband towed my truck back to their house and used a torch to seal up the crack in my radiator. He then showed me a fast way to get to my cousins. I sure had a story for them when I showed up.