Some Vehicle Stories

Reno

Sometime during 1969 or 1970 David and I decided to go for a ride…to Reno.  It just sounded like a fun thing to do.  It must have been a Sunday, since that was the only day David had off back then.  We got in the car and were driving along having a great time.  The weather was good and we were both enjoying the ride.  We got to Reno and David said he was hungry, “let’s find something to eat”.  Sounded great to me… “how much money do you have on you?”   “None, how much do you have?”   OOOPS… “none”.  

You have to realize in 1969 or 1970 there was no such thing as an ATM or a Debit Card…or even a Visa or MasterCard.  Sears had credit cars, even Kmart had credit cards…but there was no general credit card that could be used to buy food or misc.   AND…nobody would dare take an out of area check back in those days.  The only way to find out if the check was good, was to call the bank---that was not going to happen on a Sunday!!

Chevron had credit cards, and we had one, so our gas was taken care of.   But, once again, gas stations did NOT sell food.  No such thing as a convenience store inside a gas station back then. 

It was a LONG trip home… we were starving when we finally got back to Windsor!!!

San Luis Obispo Trip

One time, shortly after we got married David said we had to go to San Louis Obispo to take his army boots to his brother Leslie.  I had never met Leslie up to this point.  It was a nice trip.  We always enjoyed going on road trips.  David ALWAYS drove…in fact, the fist time I ever drove one of our vehicles with David in it as a passenger was when he had his appendicitis’s attack and surgery.  Up until that point, if we went anywhere David did ALL the driving.  I loved it!!  He was an exceptionally good driver and he loved to drive.   So…anyway, we drove down to SLO, met his brother, talked for probably ½ an hour and then headed back home.  It was a one day trip.  Neither David or Leslie had much to say to each other.  Leslie was always a bit weird.  But he was grateful for the boots.  And I was grateful for the road trip. 

My Driving Record

I always thought I was a good driver, but thinking back on it, maybe I wasn’t all that good!!   My first accident happened shortly after I got my drivers license.  I was driving in the Safeway parking lot, saw a friend from school (I guess I had at least one), waved to her and hit the car in front of me.

Second accident was the BIG one.  I went to my friend Sigrid’s house when Mike was about 4 or 5 months old.  Going home Mike was crying.  (that’s what he did back then ALL the time).  Anyway, his crying was very distractive; it was rather nerve shattering to me, even after months of it.  Anyway, I was NOT paying attention to the vehicles ahead of me.  Coming down

3^rd street

, under Hwy 101 all the cars in front of me stopped…and I didn’t!!   I honestly totaled my 510 Station Wagon!!!   Mike loved it…when I crashed he quit crying and laughed.  Obviously he had a sick sense of humor from an early age!!   The car behind me honked it’s horn…and I got out and told them my car wouldn’t run…not with the whole front smashed in!!!   Weird thing…the car I hit drove off.  I have no idea what it looked like.  I was too busy grabbing Mike’s baby carrier when I realized I was going to hit.  Back then babies didn’t ride in car seats…nope, just “L” shaped, plastic carriers.  With little lightweight plastic belts to hold the baby in.  You just plopped that carrier right down on the front seat next to you and drove all over the place!!   That carrier wasn’t seat-belted in either.  The cop figured the car must have been stolen, why else would they just drive off when it was 100% my fault. 

Then I only had small mishaps, I backed into a car at the Print Shop.  I ran over a picket fence with a Sonoma County Transit Bus…just small stuff!!

But then… I had one more good one.  Not really that good, but it wasn’t just a mishap.  I was  delivering something for the attorney I worked for in KF.  I was looking for the address and all the cross streets had stop signs…so I was slowly driving through the intersections.   Guess what?  In KF’s they just change things for no apparent reason… I came to a street with a stop sign for me and didn’t notice it.  I went through the intersection and hit some dude broadside.  The car was smashed, but not really horribly, I was driving very slowly looking for the address.  The dude got out, grabbing his neck.  The cops showed up and knew him by name.  They told me he’s been arrested quite a few time in KF’s, all the cops knew him.  They said they thought he was lying, but sent him off in an ambulance anyway.  He was released right away with no injuries.  My bumper was smashed and had to be replaced. 

 The Red Pickup

While I’m on the subject of road trips.  There is one trip David and I took that stands out in my mind.  David bought a red pickup, did some work on it.  It was the best running pickup he ever owned.  It was FAST, very powerful.  A fun truck to drive.  One time we went over to the Valley, heading to Marysville or some place over there.   Anyway, it was just David and I.  For some reason David wanted to really enjoy that pickup on that trip…he passed EVERY other vehicle on the road.  I’d never ridden in a vehicle that went so fast.  It was exhilarating!!  Just a real exciting rush to go that fast on those back roads.  (yeah..we did go the back roads, no freeway driving).    David was usually such a cautious guy, but this one trip he just let go and drove like a fool!! 

We lent that pickup to a church member that was backing up with the door open.  He stopped suddenly and the door spun around to the hood and tweaked everything. David was so mad, cause he said he wouldn’t have a wrecked vehicle…he knew it would never be right again…so he sold it to that member.  David never could understand why a person would open the door to back up…isn’t that why they put mirrors on vehicles?  So you can back up!!!!