A year from now, you'll be laughing about this....Disasterous Road Trip...Life lesson from my father...
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Or...Never take old cars on road trips....
"A year from now, you'll be laughing at this"...My dad has told me this numerous times over my lifetime, and he's been proven right more times than not.
The time that most stands out to me, though, was in 1982. My now ex-husband and I, and my brother, had been living in Grand Junction, Colorado, where the guys had been working at a factory. We lived there for nine months, until the factory closed its doors, leaving us with no income.
My parents said to come back home to Ohio--we could all live with them until we got settled again. So we took them up on their offer, packed our cars as full as we could get them, and headed out.
When I say cars, I use the term lightly--my brother had an old Mustang II, with a 4 speed on the floor, and a bad clutch. We had an even older Pinto station wagon with a leaky transmission line. But we were all young and invincible...after all, we only had a two day, approximately 1500 mile trip ahead of us! To be safe, we took along a case of transmission fluid, because almost everytime the Pinto slowed down or stopped, it died, and we had to add more fluid to get it going again.
So, off we went on I-70, up into the Rockies...it went smoothly until we hit Vail, and the Pinto died on us. My ex pulled over, took out the dipstick to check the levels, and poured more transmission fluid in...then off we went. We didn't realize until we were miles down the road that he had forgotten to put the dipstick back--and we were too far away to go back and get it.
During our trip through the mountains, my brother's clutch was getting worse and worse, but he managed to get through Colorado without any problems. Then we hit Kansas and the toll booth...we were following along behind him, when he went through the toll...and stopped. Next thing we knew, he was jumping out of his car and struggling to push the Mustang off to the side. My ex jumped out to help, while I nursed our Pinto through the toll booth, and then braced myself for the bad news...
The Mustang's clutch had bit the dust, and was totally useless. But, fortunately for us, my ex had extensive knowledge of cars, so he figured out a plan. It was simple, he said--all he had to do was drive it himself by just jamming the car into gear and gunning the gas. Easy, he said, done it a million times. So off we went again(after putting more fluid into the Pinto), with my ex in the lead. The Mustang jerked forward, tires squealing everytime he shifted gears.
We stopped shortly after that for the night, then headed out first thing in the morning, limping out onto the interstate, and praying for the best.
I was taking a turn driving at one point as we were going through St. Louis. The Pinto was doing well, until I headed down some interstate ramp, where the car up and died on me. There was nowhere to pull over, and I eventually coasted to a stop, blocking the exit. Cars were lining up behind me, so my brother jumped out of the passenger seat and hurried to put some transmission fluid in the car. I took that opportunity to slide over and let him drive the rest of the way...I was done.
Finally, we hit the Ohio stateline, which meant we only had about 20 more miles to go. But as we exited off of I-70 onto Highway 40, it happened. My ex was trying to jam the gears on the Mustang to get onto the highway, when the poor car finally gave up--the gears were completely stripped out.
So, we decided to do the only thing that three young and broke 20-somethings could do--we put my brother in his Mustang, and my ex and I got into the Pinto, and, after adding more transmission fluid, we started pushing the Mustang with our car. For 20 very long miles, we bumped and pushed that car down the highway. In a good car, that trip usually takes about 15 minutes or so....it tooks us about an hour. We had to add transmission fluid about 3 more times during this neverending last stretch of road.
My parents were waiting for us--we had called them earlier in the day, so they were watching down the street as they saw us coming. We hadn't told them about the car problems--we didn't want to worry them. Imagine their surprise when we bumped and jerked up to their house--one car dead, and the other one gasping its last dying breath....
The first words out of my horrified dad's mouth were " How LONG have you been pushing that car???". We hurriedly assured him that it was only for the last hour. He just shook his head in amazement...
Meanwhile, I stood there, near tears, so glad to be home, but so miserable after that nightmare of a trip. Dad came up to me and gave me a big hug, and said:
"Don't worry, honey...a year from now you'll be laughing about this"
It brought a smile to my face, and a year later, we WERE laughing about "The trip from Hell".
I just love my dad--he is a wise, wise, man.....
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Comments
Oops, sorry to make you relive that memory Candie--what an adventure you must have had, too! Wow, I think ours eventually ended up in about as bad a shape as yours, lol.
Glad you liked the story--I was afraid it was a little long....but I haven't gotten the editing part of writing down pat yet, haha.
Familiar story.....grins...your ex was such a loooosser! :)
Yeah, he was, wasn't he?lol
Good thing I realized that all those years ago, huh???
~~hugs~~
when that stuff happens to me I get madder than anyone. it takes a little bit longer for me to laugh about it, but your dad's right, eventually you do.
raiderfan--I know what you mean--it's hard to laugh at the time, especially when you're stranded along an interstate, hundreds of miles from home....
But this has made for a funny story to laugh about now between my brother and me, lol!
What a great perspective! When things are bad, look forward to a time when you will be able to laugh about it.
I'd like to see RaiderFan in that car situation!! Bet he could have pushed it clear to Ohio all by himself!!! GRRRRRR! Put your shoulder into it man!!!!
Yes, your father sounds like a very wise man! I loved this story!
I'm glad you have Tom, now... I love getting to know both of you.. individually and together. Fantastic!!
It's hard retelling a story about a real situation..what to put in, what to leave out, how to end it. You did a great job on this. Your dad reminds me a little of mine.
Great story! Thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed the car woes tale, been there more times than I'd want to admit.
Once told my son when he was that age and starting off on a cross country trip to be sure to "check the oil every time he stopped for gas." Something got lost in the translation and he thought I said, "add oil every time you stop for gas." Half way there, the excess gas blew up all over the engine. The mechanic was still rolling on the floor laughing when he called me to confirm I would be paying the bill.
Ivorwen--Thanks--my dad has always been an optimist, so it was only natural for him to say something like that, lol!
Candie--Thanks for the sweet words about Tom and me---it's fun getting to know you, too! And thank you for the encouragement on the writing part, too--I'm pretty new at this!
k@ri--He really is...I love him dearly!
KCC--Thank you--I appreciate it!
Jerilee--Yes, we've have our own share, too, through the years...lolYour poor son--I'll bet he was really embarassed!:)
I just love reading about you and Tom and your family life. Thank you, always for sharing your wonderful stories.
AIdy--Thank you so much for your sweet comment--you made my evening!
OMG What a fiasco! And a little scary at times. But your dad was right:"...you'll be laughing at this". It's really sort of funny. Loved the story. And, BTW, I like your straight-forward style of writing....an easy, enjoyable read.
Amazing what just one year down the line does, sometimes it takes two but on the whole, I agree with your dad .... he sounds like he is a sensible man
In the most dire, bizarre, or difficult of times my sister and I will always say, "One day we'll look back on this and laugh," and I have to say that when time has passed, and we look back on some of those things - we still don't laugh. :) :)
alekhouse/Brenda/Lisa--Thank you all for your wonderful comments! I'll have to one day talk my dad into sitting in front of a computer so he can read all the nice things you all have said about him...:)
omg, I'm glad you can chuckle! I can only imagine the oddity of watching one car push another...almost funnier than that time I saw this tow truck towing a tow truck!
lol Ixxy--I'll bet that WAS a sight! And I'm sure that my dad now wishes that he had caught that moment with his camera, haha!
Can we say just slightly redneck?...lol Great story mom
hahaha Dus(Deece)--Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!!!!!:)
Ha,ha. Reminds me of a trip I took to Colorado in college with some friends in an old clunker. Pulling off into these little towns along the way and looking for an auto parts store. Seems we needed a new part about every 3 hours! Yours sounds like a true adventure!
lol Christoph--it sure was an adventure!
Did you go through Vail on your trip--you could have picked up a dipstick for free...hahaha.
After my mid-life crisis which involved removing myself and sons to Queensland for twelve months I came to my senses and returned to the cold in my very old mazda station wagon - unfortunately bits kept falling off on the way back and by the time we hit Canberra the muffler was tied on with a belt, as were other bits and pieces...,I seem to remember that this car was using as much oil as petrol so it really was an adventure..but the brakes and engine were good...according to the mechanic who may have seen me coming!!! I was quite nervous but the boys thought it a great lark travelling down the highway with a boot so full I could barely see over it (5'2")through to the back window plus there was the added joy of our small dog who was running across the top of everything most excitably -yes it too was a journey from hell...thanks for sharing Tamcor...cheers
ajcor--Thanks for your comment...sounds like you need to write a hub about your own adventure! :)
Guess we all have incidents that we can look back on like this and laugh - but not everyone can tell it as well as you do Tammy - I was laughing all the way through though I'm sure none of you did back then!
Thank you bunches Shalini--that was so nice of you! :)
Great Hub. I loved reading it. My dad used to tell me the same thing. Congratulations on the 100 Fans achievement!!!
Thanks for the congrats Lucey--I'm so surprised to have so many, lol!!!
Wow--your dad said the same thing--that's fantastic!
Thanks again! :)
You shouldn't be surprised - you write interesting stories that everyone can relate to :D - witnessed by the amount of fans who flock to read your next installment!
Great hub - looking forward to the next one!
Thank you so much, Enelle....I really wasn't sure when I started whether this type of writing would hold anyone else's interest, so I really appreciate the encouragement! :)
My dad is the reverse of yours, he used to insist my mom drive old cars because he thought it saved money. Her truck got stuck many times where she had to walk to go call for a tow truck, so she finally decided to get a new car lol.
It is easy to see the humor in this situation now, after so much time has passed. Not unlike women "forgetting" the pain of childbirth:-).
I'm just glad you had enough spare drivers to take over the gear grinding and th fluid adding. That last stretch pushing one dead car with a dying car -- priceless. I'm surprised it's not "illegal" to do that. Glad you made it and even more glad your wise dad helped you develop a positive outlook on life's little tribulations!
SP--Sounds like your mom got in the last word then, so to speak, lol--good for her! Thanks for your comment!
MM--Thank you! My dad helped me through many tough times--I just adore him! As far as the illegal part--who knows?lol We lived in a very rural area, though, and didn't push the car through any cities, other than the little village my parents lived in, haha. I'm sure everyone who saw us just shook their heads, and said "Oh, it's just those two Williamson kids again"!!! Thanks again for your comments!
Candie V says:
7 months ago
This is a hoot!! I drove my vw from Seattle to Nebraska adding oil every 500 miles or so both ways!! Gosh the invincibilty of youth! "Bumper cars on route 40" should be a Twisted Tom Tune! Thank you for the gaffaws this evening!! PS one of my first cars was a 72 pinto with a broken drivers seat. We held it forward with 2 huge rocks, also the stick was broken so we had a vice grip for a shifter, the brake light was out so a button was wired onto the handle of the vice we could push when we hit the brakes! Crap, I'd managed to wipe out that memory of automotive catastrophe!