The other evening K and I had a coffee date over in the
city. It was a clear sunny day so we headed for the ferry landing in high
spirits. The wait was short and, as soon as we vacated the car and climbed to
the lower deck, we saw whales feeding nearby. They were close. Of course we
didn’t have the dang camera with us. Sigh
We watched them for a while and then the boat pulled out. As
the boat moved swiftly across the tickle we lost sight of the whales and turned
our attention to the small boats. It was an idyllic evening; until it came time
to disembark from the boat.
A long truck with a wide load had also boarded the boat. Unfortunately,
it was positioned to be first off the boat, and nobody else could get off until
after the truck. We knew there was going to be trouble when we saw the driver
of the truck pacing the off ramp and shaking his head.
Apparently, nobody had thought to measure the width of his
load to see if it could fit the ramps. He’d managed to get on all right, but
getting off was going to be a problem. The load was a bit too wide, or so the driver
thought. There was a difference of opinion with the boat crew, but nobody had a
measuring device to sole the argument.
After fifteen or twenty minutes of loud discussion, the
driver reluctantly attempted to drive off the boat. He got halfway off when
they hit a problem. The load was too wide to pass between the handrails of the
ramp. The crew removed the rails for one side (not an easy or swiftly
accomplished task).
Once again the truck pulled ahead, but the wide load stuck
on the handrails of the other side. Someone finally realized the truth of the
situation. No matter how long they discussed the situation, there was now only
one solution. The rail had to die. Once again the truck lurched into gear and
rolled ahead. There was a scream of tortured metal then the truck was free and
rolling away.
A few moments later we were rolling across the now rail-less
ramp. There was a modern sculpture of twisted rail pipe nearby. It actually
looked interesting. As we sped up the hill we looked. The truck was making a
painful and wide left turn. We turned right and headed for town where we met
our friend right on time. Some days it is better to be lucky than good.
So that's it folks, never a dull moment around here. Have any of you got any interesting travel experiences that you thought were a disaster but turned out okay after all? Care to share? Aw come, share. tee hee hee
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In my best Sophia Petrillo voice: Picture it, Northwest Wyoming, 1995. It was the three of us, in a mid-80's four door Ford Escort Hatchback. My mother was driving, my great-aunt in the passenger seat and me packed into the backseat with the pillows and blankets. As we approached a curve, there was a sign that read "Caution: Large Wildlife" Okay, no biggie, deer, antelope, we city folk (at the time) could handle this.
ReplyDeleteAt 70mph Mom goes around the curve. I was glad that the three of us are all very particular about our pillows and had packed them all in around me when she hit the breaks. About 300 yards later, we were doing a sedate 35mph as Mom tightened her grip on the wheel one hand at a time and wove out little car through the HERD of bison laying in the road. I will never forget the sound of her voice as she tightened her grip "Oh. LARGE wildlife." They say there is a difference between believing and knowing. When we first saw the sign, we believed that there could be large wildlife on that stretch of road. Once we rounded the curve, we KNEW what the sign meant. It was about five years after that when we moved to Wyoming, but now, when we see a sign that says large wildlife, the mental speed limit often drops well below the posted limit.
So, you're saying that when Wyoming says large wildlife, they really mean it, right? tee hee
DeleteWell, the moose are less frequent here than there, but the bison are patently unpredictable
ReplyDelete