Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Longest Mile

Finally, the day had come. I get to bring her home! Mentally preparing myself as a nervous teen would for a first date. She was only a mile away or so I thought to myself "I can do this". I have never driven such a large vehicle could I even keep it in my lane. She was huge in my eyes but It had to happen. I couldn't leave her there being uncared for, she deserved better than that!
we drove to the lot where she sat. We checked the tires they seemed ok for the trip. I climbed in as I sat in the drivers seat the visions flooded back into my mind of a young man cruising the roads to freedom and she was the means of escape!

Turning the key she started much easier as if she knew her life was improving! I slowly put her in gear after she warmed up. I gently pushed on the throttle the tires spun on the wet ground and the gas pedal fell to the floor! This is going to be fun I thought. I opened the dog house which was not even attached to the travco and discovered a tiny two barrel carburetor where in my dreams there should of been a gleaming monster four barrel! There was a pound of eaten acorn shells strewn across the motor also. It was then that I noticed the box with the oil filled breather setting in it. Where the passenger seat should be. In my dream state I didn't see this huge box what else could I have missed? Checking the throttle linkage It all seemed ok but half way through it lifted and the pedal fell to the floor? I thought just get her home and I can fix that later. It was a short trip after all what could go wrong? I started her back up put her in reverse a little progress then the tires spun. After a eternity of forward to reverses and no luck! She was stuck! and good. We drove back home to form a plan.

We decided to call my stepson who just got an old four wheel drive Bronco. He said he could it. I told him it would be about ten pm to midnight. You would of thought I killed him those were the best hours for a teens social life! He reluctantly agreed. We pulled in about 10:30 pm and hooked up the tow cable and we both took off tires spinning the back of the Travco went sideways. I let off and he slowly pulled her out. I saw her reflection in the window of closed store across the street and all the dreams came flooding back in. We disconnected the cable on the shoulder and took off. It was then I realized my dream of driving as a teen hearing only the wind blowing was unrealistic at best. She reminded me of a dump truck driving by she was in no way quiet to say the least and the mud in the rear tires didn't help the tires balance but so far so good The brakes didn't feel the best so I drove slow and careful trying not to give more than half throttle...Luckily for me no one was out driving or so it seemed. We approached the main turn in this white knuckled journey and out of nowhere it became rush hour my heart pounding. I started my turn and you guessed it the pedal fell and I'm stuck in the intersection trying to grab the pedal to lift it back in the dark with more cars than rush hour watching the spectacle. Finally in the dark I got it fixed and gassed it only to see the low train overpass would she fit? I hadn't thought of that! The sweet dreams of yesteryear gave way to the nightmare that suddenly became my life I had visions of police cars and tow trucks and heckling crowds of people! I creeped up trying to will the bridge higher with my mind. Wait! there was no crashing sound or scraping....Whew she fit !!! Just a few more blocks and I would be safe from my torments. As we arrived home I decided to back her in. It is very different than a car I had to have the boy as I call him guide me in as none of the mirrors were adjusted to me driving...drivers ed 101. Ha we made it I thought, She was home. Now the real adventures begin.

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