| Grapevine - 09.20.05 |
| submitter: | Rebecca |
| location: | Gorman, CA |
| Someday I will tell you the story of how I almost died on the Grapevine in a 1963 Econoline van. |
| category: | Mats on da Move |
| comments: | 12 |
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| wim commented on 06.12.11 | | You know I love you more, marvin gaye or CCR? |
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| Rebecca commented on 10.05.05 | | Yes I am here in Hawaii, I have one mattress pic, and I anticipate that there are many more waiting around the corner. I am not staying in a tourist area, but rather at my friend's house in an ordinary town with mattress neighborhoods aplenty. I will be searching later today but it is raining. |
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| Rebecca commented on 10.05.05 | | Yes I am here in Hawaii, I have one mattress pic, and I anticipate that there are many more waiting around the corner. I am not staying in a tourist area, but rather at my friend's house in an ordinary town with mattress neighborhoods aplenty. I will be searching later today but it is raining. |
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| Smart Set commented on 10.05.05 | | So, "Hawaii"? (Well, someone had to say it...) |
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| DVD Dan commented on 10.05.05 | | I hope you have a grass skirted pointer at your disposal. |
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| Rebecca commented on 10.05.05 | | Yes, I had taken note of that fact. I just got my first already! |
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| Smart Set commented on 10.04.05 | | Make sure you get at least one Hawaiian mattress; there are currently none on SM. |
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| Rebecca commented on 10.04.05 | | But of course. |
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| Smart Set commented on 10.04.05 | | Are you going to have SM access in Hawaii? |
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| FOD40UK commented on 10.04.05 | | Nice story!Have a great week in Hawaii (you lucky devil!) |
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| Rebecca commented on 10.04.05 | | Well, seeing as how this is the eve of my departure to visit Serena, maybe I should. It all started when she and I were rushing home after the Gulf War broke out - not the current one, but the first one, in the reign of Georgie the First. Driving home from the streets of Laredo nonstop in a decrepit former telephone company van (which overheated if we went over 45 or so) was no picnic. Especially after we were caught in a snowstorm at the New Mexico border. Oh wait, this is the story of the Grapevine...fast forward...Well, some of you may know that the north side of the Grapevine is kind of the steep side. It was somewhere around 2:00 am as I was coming down this steep side, after two days of alternately driving and sleeping in the back, that I had this bright idea that I could save gas by shutting off the engine and coasting. The van coasted well...too well. In fact, I estimate that the van probably coasted at at least 100 mph. Strange noises began coming from all parts of the van, little creaks and shudders I'd never heard before. As I stood on the brake pedal, little bits of debris raining down on my head from the ceiling, I realized we were surely about to die. My biggest dilemma was, "Do I wake her up and let her know she's about to die, or do I just let her go in her sleep?" I chose the humanitarian option as that old van hurled itself faster and faster downward, the brakes utterly useless and the very frame of the thing groaning as the surrounding blackness sped by in a blur. I wrestled the steering wheel as the van barreled downhill and, shuddering mightily, cast itself upon the mercy of the wall of Central Valley Fog below. We hit that fog bank like a screaming barrel of bolts and somehow, against all odds, I managed to wrestle that thing to safety by the side of a gas station. "Where are we?" she murmered, waking up innocent and tousled. "We're at a gas station," I said, "and I need to take a little break from driving." |
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| FOD40UK commented on 10.04.05 | | Go on-tell us now! (you know you want to) |
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