Just seen some anonymous nice person has popped 2 apple crisp cereal bars by my van. Breakfast.
Wow what a day. Lets start where I left you all. So I have been sitting in Subway minding my business as usual, the signs were up for custom but no one stops at a freeway rest stop in the morning unless they have been driving all night. Any way, so sitting there and the Subway guy who asked me to move on pulls up. Immediately I know I am in the wrong. I hadn't moved. But in my defines I wasn't taking up that much space the car park was huge and I was 1 of like 3 cars. And also I couldn't be bothered. So he walks up to the van, sees the signs and then picks them up! Putting down the wooden one immediately as he realizes its wood and too heavy for his weak arms. He then marches in and straight away confronts me about how illegal it is what I'm doing and I can't do it. "Ok" I said. "I was moving on anyway, guess it was time to go." He got pretty shitty with me and then started walking off with my signs! I worked hard on those! I need them for future use! So I said "Excuse me sir, can I grab my signs back." He carried on walking muttering "No it's ok don't worry" I fucking will worry mate! "No sorry mate can I get those back" I said. I need them. I am met with an abrupt "No, I'm afraid not." Then I raise my voice and "Give them back now they are mine you have no right to them!" He turns around holding the signs tight to his chest like a child! He was taller than me but there was fear in his middle aged eyes. I grabbed the signs and gave him a little nudge in the wrong direction. He rapidly relinquished the signs and stepped back! What a massive twat. As I walked away he said with a slightly quieter voice. "They are mine!" I wasn't sure in what context he meant this… did he recognize the plain cardboard from his bins! Or does anything in his parking lot become his? Who knows. As I left Subway I left him with the sarcastic remark of "Well I'm afraid I need to borrow them mate! Forever!" I hopped in the van and drove off.
I put 40 bucks in and got on my way. I had kinda been in a rush when I left I didn't really want to hang around and have some breakfast and organize my stuff. I wanted to leave straight away for dramatic effect! So I was in need of a wee pretty bad and the Subway in the back of the van was calling to me very loudly! But I soldiered on. I had managed to get pretty far indeed and the ocean was looming ever closer! I had even seen a few signs saying seaside 60 miles/50miles. I was getting closer! It was initially a dull drive but as I got further it became gorgeous. I had come off the route 5 onto the 26. This was a bit of an impulse choice as it was not my original route planned but some guy who's daughter was drawing on my van the other day was talking about the west coast and he had a lot, a lot of information to offer. One of those guys that starts of interesting and then quickly becomes boring and then annoying. And then you keep just thinking shut up and bugger off! But it seems some of his inane chatter had stuck in my brain and I remembered he mentioned the best road to get on is the 26. When I saw it sign posted I thought why not? He was annoying after a while sure, but can't deny he knew what he was talking about! So I got on the road. It was gorgeous. Surrounded by towering pines breaking up the beams of sunlight as I drove through the winding road. After a while I saw the petrol was nearly empty again and I started looking for a place to park up for a while so I could earn some more cash and get to the sea. I was just coming up on a town a few miles a head and the sea side was a mere 40 miles away! I couldn't wait. I wanted to get there now! It feels like so long now since I have been wanting to swim or even just see the ocean! But alas it was time to stop. I came round a large bend and it was a rather tough hill to get up. The van bless her doesn't like these hills. Have to slow down to about 35 miles an hour. So I started up the hill and what do you know. A horrific noise occurs. I look at the gas gauge and it is very low! Shit I think! The noise gets increasingly worse a lot of rattling starts and then. Bang! A fucking explosion! Smoke erupts from the bonnet and fills the drivers cabin pretty rapidly! I pull over and jump out. I stand for a while looking vacantly at my van. It could be out of gas I lie to myself.
So I get to work on a sign. Gas/Internet. The important things! It said gas because I kind of thought if I get a lift to a gas station it will be in the next town, I can just use the internet and see what I can do. I didn't really want gas. Or maybe I did. I didn't!
Quite quickly a guy pulls over, very friendly and he was on it straight away. Before I knew what was happening he was filling up my van with his gas. Shit I thought. So I tried to start it. Of course it didn't work. I don't know why I let this poor man waste his gas on my van. It made a horrible noise but this guy, (Moby, like the whale, he said) knew what was going on right away. He got under the van and knew where to look and all that stuff. He very immediately exclaimed that it was the end of the road for this van. I can't quite remember how he said it but it was clear and to the point! Oh dear. I am Fucked! So it appears game over. But I couldn't have been helped by a better guy. He was so on it. knew exactly what to do and was helping me in every way he possibly could. He was a doer as I say! He just does things. So he said he was going back into town in 45 mins and he would give me a lift. The best thing for me to do was try and sell the thing for scrap before the cops tow it away. He thought I could get up to 400 bucks for it. This was exciting news. He said if I couldn't find anyone to buy it he and his mate would give me 100 for it. So it wasn't looking too bad. So off he went and I packed up my life since January as small as it would go and then sunbathed on the roof until he returned.
When he got back he was chatting about what I should do and who I should call for scrapping it and what not. He was so helpful. I left the van where it had broken down and headed into town with him. It was a sad moment as it was possible I would call a scrap person to go and pick it up and I would never see it again. He didn't seem to realize this was a sad a moment for me as it was. Still no time for dilly dallies! Off we went and he dropped me off in the nearest town, Banks next to some free WiFi at Subway where I could sort out this scrapping business.
So I started looking online for all these places and having no luck really. It was a Friday afternoon and no one was answering their phone. I was using the phone of a local pharmacy. The lady in there was kind enough to let me use it. Moby had left me his number too, in case I was going to sell the van to him but he was away for the weekend at his sons graduation. So after having no luck for a while with scrapping I started to worry. I was in a little town called Banks with a suitcase, 2 bags, 2 sets of snowboard boots, a helmet, 2 snowboards and my laptop with 3 dollars, and no where to sleep! The van was a good 10 miles back! I was fucked! Again! This time much much more fucked. I began to think about the prospect of sleeping rough. I went into the supermarket near by with my life in one of their trolleys and spent 2 bucks on a massive carton of juice. I didn't want to die on the street, from dehydration!
I had given little thought to my overall plan let alone what the hell I was going to do. My options are as follows: 1 sell the van for scrap and buy a ticket back to Calgary and a flight home, 2. sell the van for scrap and use the money to get me down the west coast. I doubt that would get me far. 3. Sell the van for scrap and have my things shipped home cheap and then do the west coast. You will notice how all of these plans involve selling the van which is not a guarantee! So I will be honest its not looking great at the moment! I now have all my belongings in a trolly and I'm fucking homeless! Great. I guess now I will start the walk back to the van for somewhere warm to sleep tonight. Provided it hasn't already been stolen. As I still had subway internet I thought I could check how far it was to the van on Google maps. I had taken note of exactly where I left it for obvious reasons. My laptop was about to run out so I went in and spent the last of my cash on some crisps! And then sat down and plugged everything in.
I found out the van was 23 miles away! This was clearly too far to walk with a massive trolly full of shit. Sleeping rough looks like the out come. Might as well stay in subway till they kick me and my trolly outa here!
Been sitting in Subway a while now reading over the blog for spelling mistakes etc and a nice fat wave of depression has come over me. Reading over my situation enough times was bound to bring it on. It s a pretty grim prospect. I have been thinking, its been so great this past few weeks and I have had so much support from everyone at home. Especially last week I have had so many people enjoying this Blog and it seems such a shame to give it up now. But it appears the only option open to me now is to come home. The real kicker is that I was just 40 miles from the nearest surf beach! Having come so far! If I had broken down by the sea I could have just lived out of the van, continued to sell drawing space on it and chilled maybe got a surf board. I could have at least Surfed for a few weeks! That's all I ever wanted! And now my plans have been fucked. With no place to sleep any money would just disappear immediately on accommodation. I suppose I can't complain. I left Banff with like less than 40 bucks and I managed to get this far. It just feels like such a kick in the balls! This is how it goes though. If you decide to try and do things for nothing then you have to remember that every experience is a bonus. Its not like I'm losing anything. I have been doing this all on a shoe string. I'm feeling gutted now about letting everyone down that is following this blog. Sad times indeed. Right it is easy to just keep writing sitting here but I don't have much more to say at the moment and I should probably be a bit more worried about where I am going to sleep tonight.
Kilometers Traveled Today: 130
Kilometers Traveled Total: 1626
Funds: 60 cents
Petrol: Petrol! Worried about petrol! Haven't you just read all that! The fucking van exploded!
Ben!
ReplyDeleteIf things could go awry that quickly, then there's the distinct possibility the situation will improve equally fast. Don't give up. You've managed to survive by doing nothing but being yourself, surely that's suggestion enough you can continue.
Be positive and stay it for as long as you can, you'll regret it otherwise. I absolutely admire your courage for this trip; I've already told you it was the final nudge that inspired me to leave England.
If there is anyone I know who will emerge from this better off, and in two days' time be doing swimmingly, it's you.
I miss you and can't wait to see you in Austria, but after you've finished this! The ten-year-older you would agree.
Mike xxx