5.17.2008

Hysterical Markers



Now we're on our way to Santa Fe. I insisted on driving the first 250 miles. My leg was rather uneventful. I just turned my XM on to the 70's channel and bee bopped along. Listened to Casey Casen's top 50 countdown from 1978. We went through Amarillo, Texas and by Palo Duro Canyon and it reminded me of a trip we took there with Katie and Tim back in 1997. We went camping down in the canyon. I woke up hunched over and could barely walk because my neck was all 'whopper jawed'. The kids still make fun of how I hobbled. Kids......ya gotta love em'! They played w/their favorite stuffed animals on the way home. Their names were Puzz, Ernie, Rolly and Patch. (two squirrels and two dalmatians). They each had a specific voice that only they (the kids) could recognize. They played w/these critters for hours. I remember Tim asking "Mom, what's a hysterical marker?" "What are you talking about Tim?" "Hysterical Marker, I keep seeing signs where it is posted." The 'hub' and I looked @ one another....."What in the 'sam hair' (huh) is he talking about?" It took us awhile and we finally figured it out "Historical Marker", hence the attached picture. Tim....always seeing things others don't. O.K., I'm digressing, back to the trip. Like I said, I drove the first 250 miles and then we stopped @ a roadside rest for lunch and a little 'potty' break. I was pretty tired and once we were back on the road it didn't take me long to fall asleep. I woke up to the sound of a bell and Bill saying "OH NO". "What, what......what's going on?" "We're on Empty." "WHAT!! you gotta be kidding me." Now to some of you this may not seem like a big deal, because most of us have been there (some more then once). But for the 'hub', this NEVER happens. Normally, he starts to panic and look for a gas stations when we reach 1/2 of a tank and have miles of gas stations stretched out before us. A smile starts to creep across my face (more like a smirk). Being the dare devil that I am sometimes I like to see how far I can go after it reaches "E" and the alarm goes off. Kinda like the episode of Kramer from Seinfeld where he was test driving a car and drove as far as he could. This drive the 'hub' crazy!! So, were running on fumes and we have about 20 miles to go before we reach the next gas station. We see a sign @ about 4 miles and smile and say "We're gonna make it," and then do our 'knuckle bump' (bump our knuckles together). No sooner do we do the 'bump' when the car starts to spit and sputter. Not gonna make it. We pull over to the side of the freeway and the 'hub' remembers that we have 1/2 of a gallon of gas in container in the r.v. I'm thinking "whoopee, that's not going to do much", but then he tells me that will get us 4 miles, which is what we needed. I had to take a pic, it was just to irresistible not to. We then were able to spit and sputter our way into a gas station. One thing I've noticed about the 'hub' after having been semi-retired for 6 months.......he handles these crisis situations with a smile. Perhaps some day while you're driving through New Mexico, you will pass the place where we ran out of gas, you'll know it because you will see the "Hystericall Marker" recording the event.

1 comment:

Micki said...

Am enjoying all your travels.

Congratulations to Bill! Hope you will be happy in your new area.

Haven't run out of gas (at least with the car and mouth yet). Just lucky, I guess.

Our Bible Study went to see Daniel this week at the Sight and Sound. It was good and powerful. Miss your insights, Tami!

Powerful stuff as you have said all along.