Coasting. Is there any other way?
There are those times in life when you know things are not going according to plan. Sometimes the altercation is unexpected. Like a deer T-boning your car. Then there are the rest. The ones that you know are coming like a ticking time bomb that you can't defuse. This instance was one of the latter kind.
I have known for quite some time that I was needing to get a new car. To be honest, there never really seemed like a good time. I felt like I had legitimate reasons to hold off. I either wasn't working, or had not saved up enough money, or was leaving the country...those sorts of things. So I continued put-putting along in Cricket (my old Subaru), hoping that it's final day would continue to be in the distant future. When we left Idaho I decided I would get a new car at 200,000 miles or when spring hit, whichever happened first.
You could imagine my despair as I realized that my car was acting ill. There was an oil leak for some time and I was starting to fear it was effecting the belts. Since Cricket would seem like normal some days I proceeded on. So there I was, driving back to Vancouver WA from Hood River when it happened.
About 5 miles out from The Couve my trusty little Cricket started getting jumpy. Kind of like the power was going in and out. I moved into the right lane as my exit was quickly approaching. Only a few more miles till I would be home. "Not just yet," my mind pleaded with the Subi. That's when all the lights you need in a car started to dim and my radio went out. This worried me not so much, there were plenty of street lights to guide me. Next, all the lights you don't want to see came on. In the pitch blackness of my interior the battery, brake, airbag, ABS and flashing check engine lights were blindingly bright. Shit. Oddly enough the oil light stayed off. Hm. As I was entering my exit ramp I realized that my power steering and brakes were toast. Alternator? No time to ponder it. I had to man handle my steering wheel to the right while feathering my emergency brake. This was, after all, an emergency.
Without further error Cricket, Mango and I cruised on down and out the ramp. We managed to not hit anything, which given the situation was impressive. Jersey barriers and cars were in every direction of us. We coasted to a stop on the shoulder only one mile shy of home. Typical. With the help of Pat and my parents I reached home in about an hour, Cricket in tow.
I have known for quite some time that I was needing to get a new car. To be honest, there never really seemed like a good time. I felt like I had legitimate reasons to hold off. I either wasn't working, or had not saved up enough money, or was leaving the country...those sorts of things. So I continued put-putting along in Cricket (my old Subaru), hoping that it's final day would continue to be in the distant future. When we left Idaho I decided I would get a new car at 200,000 miles or when spring hit, whichever happened first.
You could imagine my despair as I realized that my car was acting ill. There was an oil leak for some time and I was starting to fear it was effecting the belts. Since Cricket would seem like normal some days I proceeded on. So there I was, driving back to Vancouver WA from Hood River when it happened.
About 5 miles out from The Couve my trusty little Cricket started getting jumpy. Kind of like the power was going in and out. I moved into the right lane as my exit was quickly approaching. Only a few more miles till I would be home. "Not just yet," my mind pleaded with the Subi. That's when all the lights you need in a car started to dim and my radio went out. This worried me not so much, there were plenty of street lights to guide me. Next, all the lights you don't want to see came on. In the pitch blackness of my interior the battery, brake, airbag, ABS and flashing check engine lights were blindingly bright. Shit. Oddly enough the oil light stayed off. Hm. As I was entering my exit ramp I realized that my power steering and brakes were toast. Alternator? No time to ponder it. I had to man handle my steering wheel to the right while feathering my emergency brake. This was, after all, an emergency.
Without further error Cricket, Mango and I cruised on down and out the ramp. We managed to not hit anything, which given the situation was impressive. Jersey barriers and cars were in every direction of us. We coasted to a stop on the shoulder only one mile shy of home. Typical. With the help of Pat and my parents I reached home in about an hour, Cricket in tow.
Comments
Post a Comment