Flashback: Lyndsay's Van Life - Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Lyndsay:

So now I finally had my temporary registration and it was time to head back to Winnipeg.

But this was an old vehicle. There was no computer to warn me if anything was going wrong. It had a single temperature gauge that said "hot" on one side, "cold" on the other, and a large "normal" section in the middle.

I was hauling ass through California. I made it into Nevada.

It was hot but everything seemed okay; the gauge was right in the middle of normal. I stopped for a little snooze at the Idaho border, then drove through Idaho to Montana. Other than that, I only stopped for gas.

Craters of the Moon, Idaho

I got to a place called Bozeman, Montana to pull in for a fuel up. I filled the tank and went to pull away.

The front end immediately started smoking and the steering wheel became hard to turn. I went inside the gas station to find the nearest mechanic and use the phone.

A guy came up to me and offered to take a look. We opened the hood and the smoke was coming from beside the radiator. We topped up the coolant and it took two full containers. That's 8 litres.

Close to emptying the second bottle, coolant began leaking from a hose.

His instructions were simple: take it to Firestone down the street, can't miss it its on the right.

But it was pouring rain. A huge rainstorm had followed me all the way from Nevada. I was driving in the rain in the middle of the night in a place that I didn't know and couldn't see it anywhere. I stopped at a light and poof, the engine began smoking again.

I barely managed to steer the van, but got it into a Verizon parking lot. I called my mom to let her know what was going on, then CAA for a tow truck.

Despite the situation, I was very relieved that this had happened in a town and not on a highway in the mountains.

As I was sitting there the cops pulled up and started questioning me. They made me stand in the rain and began searching the van. They didn't believe my story or that I'd bought the van in California because it was such an old piece of shit. They couldn't understand why I would buy a van like that from so far away on the Internet.

"Because of the heart shaped window. Look at it! It's got a heart shaped window!"

The tow truck arrived and the cops left after confirming that I had California plates and no drugs.

Once I was hooked up I asked the driver to take me to Firestone. He pulled out of the Verizon parking lot and drove me half a block up the street back the way I'd came and pulled into Firestone.

It was still raining and the middle of the night. No getting the van fixed right away. I wanted to be inside somewhere warm and call my mom. There was a restaurant right next to Firestone, so I went in. But they were just putting up their chairs to close for the night.

I asked if I could use the bathroom before they closed. But they could see how disheveled I was and asked if I was okay. They let me sit down and unload as they packed up for the night and gave me a beer.

While telling her about the breakdown she told me that I should go to Big-O Tires; her boyfriend was the manager and she promised he would take care of me. But I told her I had already been towed to Firestone. After the conversation and beer I went back to the van to sleep.

I don't know about all of you, but I'm a "very regular" person. I get up in the morning and I have to go to the bathroom. I went into Firestone, told them I was broke down and asked to use the bathroom.

I went in, did my business, and clogged the toilet.

And now I had to go ask the for help and a plunger.

I figured I'd ask about the van first, then give him the bad news.

I asked if he could fit me in that day as it was just the hose. He checked the computer but they were booked solid for the next two days. Right at that moment his coworker came out of the bathroom complaining that he needs a plunger.

And now I had to ask to use the phone to get a tow truck to another shop.

He recommended Big-O Tires.

He called them up and made sure they could take me. I called the tow truck and then had to wait in the lobby because it was still raining.

While they plunged my poop.

The tow truck got there, picked me up, drove me out of the parking lot, and pulled back into the Verizon parking lot.

Big-O was on the other side of a row of trees sharing the same parking lot.

That's when all the bad melted away and I realized that I'm living in a comedy.

To be continued...