Once again I find myself sitting here with near a week I could write about. And once again, it has been filled with awesome experiences! I had great conversations with strangers on the train, ate wonderful food, and saw amazing sights while in Glenwood Springs, CO as well as the long ride out there. However, there is one amusing, and personally embarrassing, story which I would like to share:
It happened while I was visiting my friend Katie in Glenwood Springs. On my first, and only, full day in town Katie had to work . She was kind enough to let me borrow her car so I could drive out of Glenwood and up Independence Pass to the Continental Divide, as well as a few other things. Her roommate was also working the next morning at one of her jobs, and she assumed that it would be the restaurant out of town and not the coffee shop just a few blocks down. As Claire would need to leave around 6AM, she put her car in front of Katie's. Turned out, late that evening Claire learned she was working at the coffee shop, not the restaurant.
Thursday morning came, I got ready, and was out the door by 7:45 so I could see all of the sights on my list. As I go to get in Katie's car, I saw Claire's sitting in front of it. Great. I took a quick look around the house and could not find them. So I walked over to the coffee shop, had Claire tell me where the keys are, and went back to the house, finding them immediately. The driveway is steep with a sharp curve at the bottom, so it is going to take a few turns and reverses to move these cars around. I turned the key, and the radio came on but the engine didn't start. Shutting it off, I went to try it again, and the same thing happened. Looking out the windshield, I closed my eyes and thought "Damn". Looking down in between the seats, I saw that what I feared was true: the car was a stick shift.
Now, there are a lot of things which are stereotypical "guy" things that I have no interest in. I don't like watching football. Likewise, mechanics has never really drawn me in. But there is something about not knowing how to drive a stick that feels like a direct affront to my manhood. Never had it slapped me in the face so hard as it was right now.
In theory, I know how a stick works. Clutch in, gas down while clutch up (you probably know the drill). At one point, I may have even tried driving stick before, but most likely never got out of first gear. This was going to be a crash course in the application of it, because I was not going to sacrifice the whole day due to this situation.
Taking off the e-brake, I let the car roll down the hill. OK, good. now I was sitting on the road with little idea what to do next. Clutching in, I turned the car on. Taking it from first gear to reverse, I let up on the clutch and gave the car some gas. The thing just took off on me. I slammed the break on, not realizing you need to clutch when doing such a thing, and the car jerks hard several times. As I'm rocking back and forth, I look over and of course there is a man riding his bicycle past me, giving me a look as if he was wondering whether I am trying to put this 1990-something Honda Civic up on hydraulics, or if I am just your garden-variety moron.
I finally got the car stopped and realize that I am going to have to abandon the idea of putting it back in the driveway. My new goal is to get it into the abandon lot next to their driveway. This should only require me putting the car in reverse, again. With the car shut off, I opened the door and started pushing with my left foot to get the car to roll backwards. There is a small hill before the empty lot, and maybe I can roll the thing up into the lot without having to start it again. Well, we got part way there, but didn't make it up the hill, so I had to break the thing, start it up again, and again gun it in reverse. The only bright side was this time, I remembered to clutch while breaking.
With the e-break back on, I climbed out of the vehicle. My nerves had not gotten a work out like that in a while, but there was also a sense of accomplishment. After all, it had only taken me 10 minutes to move a car 15 yards!
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