When Ringelstetter decided to trade in the Green Bay, Wisconsin show for the Littleton, Colorado show he had no idea what was in store. He set out on the road with his brother and a friend in his brand new Ford Explorer Sport with a U- Haul trailer on the back. They were on highway 80, outside of Ogallala, Nebraska and the rain had just quit when they crossed a bridge that would derail their expedition.
As the tires hit the bridge near mile marker 139, the vehicle shook and Ringelstetter found himself feeling lighter. He looked in his rearview mirror to discover that his trailer was drifting away from him, but it couldn’t go too far thanks to the chains. Time around Ringelstetter slowed down as he braced himself for the impact. The tongue of the trailer struck the bumper of the Ford and tugged the vehicle to the right, then back to the left, and struck once more into the back of the vehicle, sending it and its passengers sliding down the interstate sideways, in both lanes of traffic.
Ringelstetter spent a large portion of his life on ATVs, and drifting was something that he used to do for fun, thankfully, because the skills he developed in the old days may have been the only thing that stopped them from a serious wreck. Ringelstetter kept his cool and managed to swing the trailer back into its place before bringing it and the vehicle to a safe stop on the side of the road.
In shock, Ringelstetter sat quietly until he realized one of his passengers was cleaning off the dashboard. The juice that he had just opened was everywhere, and in his hand was an empty bottle. With a deep breath Ringelstetter pulled himself together and called the authorities. In time, the tow truck arrived, and after speaking with the U-Haul company, Ringelstetter headed towards Ogallala, Nebraska to meet the driver with the trailer that held all of his art.
After getting the bare necessities needed to fix his vehicle, he and his comrades waited for the tow driver, patiently at first, until too much time had passed. Ringelstetter called the driver and discovered that somehow, wires had gotten crossed, and the driver was now an hour away, in the wrong town, with all of Ringelstetter’s work. As it was the driver’s last call of the day, the only option was to drive an hour back in the opposite direction to retrieve his work.
Once there, Ringelstetter set to work on straightening out his vehicle so that it could once again pull the trailer, and the last thing he did was check on his work, out of fear that it was damaged. However, he was thrilled to find that everything appeared to be unfazed when he opened the door. At this point, Ringelstetter was unstoppable. He drove the remaining four hours to Littleton and proceeded to have a magical show.
Darienne Keniece