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Day 1

Well, about 6:00 PM, I pulled my bus out of my court. My mom, holding my nephew, waved goodbye while walking down the street with me as I drove out. I headed towards the nearest gas station big enough to accomodate my bus, about 20 minutes away in the opposite direction. After filling up the bus and my two emergency gas cans, and emptying 5 quarts of oil into the engine, I tried to leave the station. It was a corner station next to one of those strip malls. I pulled in on one street and planned to cut the corner, into the strip mall parking lot, leaving by a driveway in the strip mall lot on the cross street. It was as straight a line as I could get, since I can't make sharp turns and I can't back up with the tow dolly. So I pull away from the pumps and I notice that there's a brown BMW parked directly in my path. I turn the wheel a bit, wondering if I could just drive around him, but my towed car got too close to the pumps. I would have to drive straight through the BMW! Luckily, I found the owner of the BMW and he moved it, only to reveal a pole sticking out right in front of where the BMW was parked! Fortunately, I'm such an awesome driver (LOL) that I pulled the bus, my car towed behind it, through the forest of gas pumps, around the safety pole, and into traffic onto the street.

I officially mark my starting time as 7:00 PM, when I got onto the freeway and started heading south. About 8:00, I hit traffic. This was not good. Someone had the brilliant idea to start roadwork on 101 South before the last of the "rush hour" drivers had made it home. They closed it down to one lane. The air was filled with black smoke and the sound of gears grinding as the cross country big rigs tried to keep their trucks moving at 2 mph. For nearly an hour, I rode my clutch, traveling at a speed so slow that first gear was too fast! But since it was mostly uphill, I couldn't coast. Finally, I reached a spot where there are 2 lanes open and we could travel at the speed limit. It was also downhill, so I figured I'd give my leg a rest and coast as far as I could.

The road started to level out, then went up. I started to lose momentum. I figured it was time to start driving again. I put the clutch in. It went in much easier than it ever had before. I have the kind of clutch that can make most people's left quad muscle start spasming after testing it twice. Suddenly, I was able to push it to the floor with almost no resistance. I got worried. I tried to put it in gear. It wouldn't go in gear. Here I got really worried. I tried again and again. I tried another gear, I tried pushing the clutch in again. I knew it was all useless, but I tried anyway. Sh*t! I burned my clutch out! Then I recognized the burning gear smell I've been smelling for the past half hour is still with me, even though the traffic isn't. Ah, damn, time to find a shoulder before I coast to a stop in the middle of the highway.

I pulled the bus over, off the highway, in front of a U-Haul lot. I turned off the engine, got some Cheese Balls and a bottle of strawberry milk, found my book, and settled on the couch with a Tap Light. First, though, I called my parents and Scott, like I promised I would do every night. I told Scott what happened, but that I was ok. He was on the Monday Night Ride (a weekly get-together of local motorcycle riders), and there was nothing he could do to help, so I told him I'd call him again after the ride. I called my parents, but I didn't tell them what happened. I figured I'd wait until tomorrow, when I knew what I was up against, then let them know. No use making them worry when there's nothing they could do about it. After all, I was only 50 miles away from home. They might have driven all the way down there to get me or something. Anyway, during the phone call with my parents, I realized I wasn't even supposed to be this far to begin with! Apparently, I was supposed to leave 101 S back in Gilroy and go through Pacheco Pass to reach I5. So I could have avoided that traffic jam entirely. However, considering that the clutch would probably go out sooner or later (most likely over Pacheco Pass or some other remote stretch of highway), and considering the experience I had, it all worked out in the end. Of course, I can say that the day after. Who knows what'll happen by the end of the trip!

Thoughts of Moving - - Table of Contents - - Day 2

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