The next morning, we woke up around 8am. Brian left with the truck at 8:30, and I went with my sister and her family to their ward pancake breakfast (it was Pioneer Day, after all...apparently they actually celebrate that day in Utah. ;)
Brian had about a quarter of a tank of gas left in the truck. No problem. Springville to Salt Lake City...he should be fine. As he was headed down from the point of the mountain, he noticed the gas tank was dangerously low. At the 215, it was on empty.
He got off the exit and was making his way towards the house. Traffic was terrible. It took about 20 minutes to get past two lights...there was a Chevron station but it was so tiny and there was no way he could pull the truck into that space. You remember the incident in Vegas, right? We need big spaces for the big truck. :)
At this point, Brian is freaking out. He is running on fumes, traffic is stop and go because of a marathon being run right in our neighborhood. So, he comes across another gas station, is sure he can fit, but he needs to turn left into the station, crossing the two closed lanes the marathoners are running on. He is sitting with the truck on, cars honking angrily behind him, and there is no opening. What to do?
So Brian turns off the truck, gets out, and tried to flag down a police officer. All the while, the cars stuck behind him are furious, honking and zipping around him whenever there is no traffic coming the other way. Finally he gets the police, and apprises them of the situation. "I need to get into that gas station."
"No way! There is a marathon going on. You cannot block traffic like this."
Brian says, "then call me a tow truck, because I have only enough gas to turn it on and get into that station."
After some discussion, the police decide to temporarily stop the runners. They wait for a sparse section, stop the runners, and Brian pulls in and gets gas. By the way, it is not a quick turn. Turn, back up, crank it more, NOW he can get in. Oops. Sorry.
Brian gets to the house about 10:15 am. We had some help waiting there for us at 9:30. Sorry again. When he arrived, this nice backhoe is parked directly in front of the house, so he has to park the truck in the middle of the street. At this point, who cares?!
I arrived later...much later since I got lost. But I did get there, and we got unpacked thanks to some awesome familyand friends, and we are finally getting settled.
Good times.
We miss California. Especially since is has rained MANY of the days since we have arrived. As you can imagine, Brian is REALLY happy.
9 comments:
Well, at least your emoticons can smile about it ;). Since it's summer and so many people are gone on vacation, we aren't missing you yet (I'm heartless, I know.) We're going to be feeling it once school starts. Because you know, Nathaniel like-likes Samantha. Keep on bloggin'!
I'm so glad that you all got there in one piece! You know you're gonna miss California!
Hilarious! I can see (and hear) Brian telling the officer to call a tow truck -- I love it!
I'm glad you made it.
OK. That whole story almost hurt to read. I can't imagine living the blasted day. I hate the moving process, but someday, when you can just hire some people to come do it all for you, you can be sure that you DO deserve that, and you will appreciate it all the more. I hope you are enjoying Utah and your house!
Rock on.
Moving Sucks.
Your story makes me NEVER want to move - I hope you have recovered a bit - we really want to come see the new digs:)
Oh, My Word. Is all I can say. I am glad you made it safe. I am so sad we missed you this trip life was crazy, but we will be back soon.
That is such a horrible story, but I'm glad you can laugh about it now. I'm glad you guys finally made it!
That is a really good story. I can't believe he stopped a marathon. :( At least you have Cafe Rio - right?
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