You will be visited by three ghosts.

Did you ever get the feeling something was destined to occur? Perhaps it’s just a feeling of being watched, or something in the air, or perhaps a subtle little hint from the Petrol Gods themselves? Obviously we don’t want to throw out silly terms like omens, sings, or warnings. Sometimes there are larger forces out there that just want us to be aware. Aware of their wrath!

Like any good road trip, one has to prepare. Whether it be Lawrence prepping his camels and supplying his army, or a couple of college kids from Seattle prepping their Super Beetle for the long journey ahead. Well, I had to prepare my equipment too, as well as acquainting my fellow travelers on how to properly handle the equipment. You see my friend Tu-Uyen was unfamiliar with the delicate and exact coordination involved between the clutch pedal, gas pedal, and shift lever when mastering a manual transmission. He was one of those “automatic guys”. Not to divert but, I have a bone to pick with the automotive world. Lately there’s been all this chatter about tiptronics and steptronic this, sequential that, rubbish! I don’t care, if it doesn’t have a clutch pedal, it is not a manual in my book! Back to the story: So the day prior to our departure I spent a few hours with Tu-Uyen bestowing him with the art of driving a stick. For never having driving a stick, he did pretty well, however I felt it be best to have him pilot our vessel on the highway only, where gear changes were seldom required.

That evening all the gear was loaded onto our chariot: the bikes, biking gear, tools, jack, extra oil (remember this, it’s foreshadowing) and a healthy stock of sugar and caffeine. Jay and I drove to the neighborhood where we would pick up the rest of our party. As we exit off the highway I take a quick glance at the gas gauge.”We’re pretty low on gas. It’s o.k. it’s not to the line yet. We’ll stop by the gas station after we pick up the boys”. So we pick up the boys, load the gear and head out. The level of excitement was intoxicating. We all sat there with big white grins plastered to our faces. It’s 5:00 am! We didn’t sleep much, but hey who cares! All we can think about is the open road, fast food, and all those lovely coeds from California! We could smell that San Francisco breeze! I could have sworn that if I squinted my eyes the road up ahead bore a slight resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge! Was I…hey! What’s that noise… chug..chug. Silence.

Ghost number 1.

So, I’m sitting in the driver’s seat as Jay, Steve, and Tu-Uyen push the car for the next 8 blocks till we find the nearest gas station. I guess that gas gauge was pretty accurate after all.