ok..here we go...the day was humming along ...we were making great time. l was staying within the speed limit ( dude..l'm a black guy driving in the states). The day was pretty ordinary...until the dreaded light on the dashboard...it was a problem we spent 4500 dollars fixing the year prior and it was the light that makes a driver go crazy. l decided to pull over and let the transmission cool down...now most of you would either leave the car and fly but l was bringing a ton of stuff so that was out of the question...also the beachhouse was being enjoyed by Cornbread, Spike and Mr Q...l had to get moving.
l got pulled over in IOWA...yep, it's true. l was pulled over because the plastic cover on my plate was covering some info...RIGHT, buddy. l got no ticket but he asked me where l worked...how long l worked there...etc.( l wasn't aware that you had to have a job to drive in IOWA...if that was true there would a lot less cars on the road). oh well...l have been Black a long time so l should not be surprised....back to the drive.
the light went off and l continued on....for about 2 hours then...BLINK BLINK...so l stopped and the light went off...we continued on...the BLINK BLINK..3 hours later of course.
so we went on because we were about 15 hours away from home....and l had a ton planned in SD. the problem is...Denver!!!!! the car was humming along and then we hit the mountains...HOLY CRAP....the mountains went from side to side....up and down...the curves were nuts...and they went on for 5 hours...the minivan did it's job but with the light and the loss of torque it was the scariest drive..imagine trying to climb a hill with no guts...pitch black and you are 17 hours from home....it was a test of wills. l have footage from that night but because of my language l could not show it ....l was swearing like a football coach all night.
At one point l was stuck behind a truck because he could only go 20KM and hour and l didn't have the torque to pass....so l spent 2 hours behind him. l went for as long as l could before l just pulled into a truck stop and took a break. l called home and took it easy for about an hour...then l realized that l needed to get moving so l hit the road again...it was about 3am ...l drove through the night ...l can't tell you how happy l was to see the sun rise....l have come to appreciate life after a night like that....you think about things differently when you have a sobering experience like that...l made a ton of promises to myself that night...l plan on doing all of these things on my new checklist.
day two is done...next day..the arrival.
1 comment:
Man, that was stressful just reading about it!! Hope it all turned out ok in part II :)
Eug
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