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Published: July 22nd 2006
Sherman at rest
As I drive, Sherm finds my leg to be a nice place to rest.As my departure deadline approached I realized I had a problem. My car was packed to the gills and the inside of my house looked like I had moved nothing. That was my first estimation error. I would need more space to transport my stuff. It took my friend Sara only a few minutes to convince me that I should postpone my departure and look into renting a U-Haul trailer. The next morning I bought the necessary equipment for my car hitch and went to U-Haul to pick up the trailer. I tried to look at the experience as a training in patience as I waited and watched the U-Haul guy hook up the wiring and hitch to my car. I had to lead him to the correct wrenches and point out where he might place the ground wire. As it was my first time pulling a trailer I slowly and timidly left the parking lot. Once home I began shifting my things from my car to the trailer. Thanks to Julie and her friend Kersten who showed up just in time to help me carry multiple loads to the trailer. I decided to eat, shower, and prepare to leave Denver.
On my way out of town I stopped to see my most current roommate Sarah and friends Rivka and Kat. They sent me on my way with a wonderful care package and lovely poem. There was no looking back as I left Denver at 9:30 PM on July 13th; I tried, but my view was obstructed by the U-Haul trailer.
My grand plan was to drive for a few hours and then stop to sleep for the night. It would have been wonderful if I had factored my cat Sherman into the mix. When I stopped to have a sleep he immediately went into his most alert mode. It was nearly midnight. He walked around the inside of the car, shifting from window to window to monitor the happenings of the parking lot. After dozing for 30 min. I gave up and began driving again. This went on throughout the night, alternating between driving and dozing. At seven A.M. Sherman crawled under some blankets and went to sleep. Occasionally he would pop his head through and was met with an evil glare from the driver. I finally got a solid deep sleep in the morning and felt great to
drive through the day.
Around lunch I met Meg outside Omaha, Nebraska. She was driving from WI back to Denver. We were each about halfway. It was so nice to have a break in the drive and be able to chat for a while. After we said goodbye it was back to the road. I had told a friend in WI that I expected to be home around 7 PM. That was my next estimation error. I was making good time but not good enough to meet that deadline. I was still hopeful that I would finish before sundown. I pulled into a gas station somewhere between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Iowa. After gassing up and getting something to drink I began to pull away from the station with my trailer feeling and sounding strange, bdump, bdump, bdump. A cracked rim and flat tire. U-Haul dispatched a mechanic who arrived 45 min. later without the rim that I needed. He jacked up the trailer, took my tire, said he would be back and left. After another hour, some frustrating phone calls, pacing, crying, and wondering what I had done to mess up my karma he returned and replaced
the tire within 5 min. I had been on the road for 24 hours.
I cruised through the final stretch of my trip. Without a map I did not know how much more time I would be driving. Sherman and I made up and he reentered alert mode and walked around the car. I tried to find a meaning to the events of the day. At 2 am I arrived at Sara's house to check in and get a much needed hug. A trip that normally takes 15 hours ended after 28.5 hours. As the title suggests, help needed with estimation skills.
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Brian
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Road Trippin'
Sara- Thanks for the update. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say welcome home and we're glad you made it safely! Keep me posted on what your plans are and hopefully I'll see you soon! Brian