It
all started with a pretty sketchy transaction, a month to the day that they
sold out, an old high school friend made a Facebook post: “Two Coachella
tickets, with car camping, for sale.”
I
responded with ecstasy, I’ll take ‘em! Working in Ontario at the time, I
wired 800 dollars to someone I hadn’t seen in over a decade. For all I
knew, she was a drug addled hooker trying to hit the motherload. Less than a
month until I had to leave, I booked three weeks off work, miraculously found a
friend to join. Flash forward three weeks, Greg and I set off in my Smart Car,
packed with as much camping gear, and clothes as you could imagine a car of
such limited size could possibly hold. No tickets in hand, but the promise that
they would be waiting at the will call booth.
I
have been called crazy, and probably worse. 22,000 kilometers in less than six
months following this story, catching up for missed time, and experiences.
Nothing’s more scary, yet unbelievably freeing than leaving your friends,
family, safety and security of home, and more so disconnecting from your phone;
being all but completely disconnected from the comfort of everything you know.
The
funny thing about being forced into strange situations, is that it really shows
you what you’re made of, what you’re capable of. Our first major stop: Denver,
Colorado. Our mission: to find a Denver sandwich. Five hours later, heading
down Broadway, trying to meet back up with a couple of uninhibited young women
that we met earlier. They told us they’d be living it up at a “rock show.” In
our search, we were led to an unlikely meeting, three older teenagers: “Where
are you from?” “Canada!” Greg replied. “So are we. Where in Canada?” One said.
“Winnipeg!” “Regina!” One replied
Two
older guys in cowboy hats approached us. One slurred, in a very peculiar
accent: “We’re from Canada too!”
Their
names: Grant and Dean; turns out they are the kids’ father and uncle. We
were invited back to Grant’s house around the corner for a beer from his keg,
which as a homebrewer really piqued my interest. Hours later we found out
that Grant and Doug’s brother is married to my friend Greg’s Aunt. At
this point, with the help of some delicious scotch, we decided to stick around
for the night.
The
next morning, we set off for our next stop, VEGAS! After the most uneventful
night you could imagine, we decided to make a quick stop at the Hoover Dam
before continuing on to California. The hilarious idea to take a picture
of my Smart on the Hoover Dam, led to Greg driving down to the Dam, as I sat on
the monstrous new bridge that bypasses the congested road on the Dam. He drove
across, while I was taking photos, laughing my head off. He disappeared
for a few minutes, drove back across, as I was thinking how ridiculous a Smart
Car looks, then the unthinkable.. The car broke down...
Stay
tuned next week: Our chance to make Vegas right, our vehicle dilemma, and
Coachella!
Oh,
we never got that Denver sandwich.
