Strange Vacations Installment #1
Originally Published @ glubdub.com (Under H.A.N.K)
Monday, 25 February 2008
I think the year was 1988 and my friend Jerry and I were taking a trip out to Rockford, Illinois for a skateboard contest. We knew a bunch of other friends were already on tour of the mid-west and were stopping there on the way back east to New York. Our flight arrived late in the evening and it was still a bus and a cab ride from Chicago O’Hare Airport to this somewhat remote part of Illinios.
Once the contest was over, we decided that we’d forgo our return flight home and hop in the van. The plan was to hit a few other skate spots and hit Six Flags in Ohio on the trip home.
Well as they say, they best laid plans are,,,,blah blah blah
Bad idea #1
The van breaks down and in a town call Des Plaines, Illinios somewhere about 1 am. Yes Des Plaines, the thriving metropolis that produces some of the auto industries’ finest fuses. The same hot spot that shuts it’s tired eyes about 9 pm each evening, yes the entire town, and all 58, 989 of it’s residents. Needless to say, that getting towed to a gas station that would have a repair shop that just may open in the morning was a challenge indeed.
The part we needed to get the van running was something simple. My lack of any mechanic skill or knowledge, whatsoever, prevents me from having a name for this part. But, if we could find one, we’d be golden. So, the new plan was to break up into groups and comb the surrounding neighborhoods for a van like ours and ‘acquire’ this part.
Bad idea #2.
Des Plaines sits adjacent to Chicago. But unlike it metro brethren, there is no wind. So in mid august on a good night, you may be lucky that the temp cools to a chilly 90 degrees with 100 percent humidity. Not exactly pristine conditions for a van full of 11 sweaty, smelly skateboarders who are at least 12 hours away from the shot at a truck stop sink, let alone a shower.
Most of us decided it would be much more comfortable sleeping on the sidewalk than inside the van, at least there was a chance for a slight breeze.
Then it dawned on us. Jerry and I still had our return flight that we hadn’t missed yet. So, somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, we called a cab. We gathered our things hopped in a 10 minute cab ride to Chicago O’Hare airport. We arrived just in time for the flight
If you looked close enough from the plane’s windows you could almost see the van, still parked in that lot. With a crew of sleeping skateboarders scattered amidst the open doors and sidewalk. Like kids on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa, they hoped a mechanic would arrive the following day and would be baring the gift of repair to send them on their way. Ahh, the dreams of children.
Within 4 hours we were back in New Jersey, sleeping in air-condition homes.
The tour van made it back to New York 2 days later…
…We’re all still friends.
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