Beginning of Trip Adventure – Safety First!

“Act quickly, think slowly.” ~Greek proverb

This photo is of my husband Jon’s 11th hour modifications to the scooter rack that just arrived from Ebay. We needed me to be able to safely load and unload the scooter by myself. I practiced loading and unloading at 10:00 pm the night before my departure.

Monday, June 4th: Departure Day… As soon as Jon finished work for the day, we got ready to leave. The plan was for Jon to follow me to Bend, OR. This was to be the maiden voyage for our new trailer. At 5:50 pm we loaded the scooter and Jon got in his car to follow me. We visited our old neighbors for a few minutes so I could say good bye, then went to pick up burritos. At 6:50 pm we got on the highway. I accelerated to blend in with highway traffic. We were within 100 yards of our house. I felt the trailer fighting me. It pulled the van one way, I steered it back. It jerked the van the other way, I yanked on the steering wheel. What the heck? Then I looked in the rear view mirror…

Holy crap! The trailer was fishtailing eight or more feet side-to-side. If it had been a funny moment, it would have looked like the old cartoons where the trailer was fishtailing down a mountain road, two wheels on either side at a time. It wasn’t a funny moment at all.

I gently slammed on the brakes. I pulled the van-camper over to the side of the highway just before it went over the Willamette River. If I’d have gone 30 more feet like that I would have been in the river and this would be the dead brewer blog instead of the road brewer blog.

Am I exaggerating? Probably not. Jon said he was screaming his head off in his car behind me. What a nightmare; screaming when nobody can hear you.

So we went home and took the trailer and scooter off the trailer. No more scooter. If I am meeting you somewhere not at my camper, I will have to arrange for you to pick me up or meet me at my camper/trailer.

We finally got on the road to Bend, Oregon at 8:15 pm. It was a slow wet drive in a sprinkling rain. The trailer is a little squirrelly, but that just means this is a slow lane trip and I’ll have to drive extra careful. There’s nothing like seeing a trailer whiplashing in your side-view mirrors to dampen your elation at departure time!

Safety First! If I am visiting you and I get there late, it’s because I’m driving very carefully!

P.S. Thank you to Mia & Pia's Brewery in Klamath Falls, Oregon, for letting me use their computer to create and post to my blog.