Here in My Van…
The Van Diaries part 3-
The Skeleton, somewhere in Utah…
Traveling is a huge part of my life, being on the road with friends has always been a staple. Having a vehicle to haul all of our gear has always been essential, and a good old fashioned Van was often our weapon of choice., 78 VW Bus, 82 Dodge Ram Van, 86 ford Econoline, Straight 6, 318, 302, slant 6 what have you. Basic vehicles, with enough room for a handful of loonies, and all our shit.
This particular Van, was an 86 Ford econoline, former university maintenance van, no luxuries, like window seals, insulation, just a solid running 5 litre engine, and wobbly steering column. My friends Sal, AKA Sales, and Dave King, piled into the Van, and we headed west to Las Vegas, where we would pick up Gilly and head home, hitting up stops like the Denver Colorado, Grand Junction, Zion National park, Bryce Canyon, Hoover Dam, Memphis Tennessee, Little Rock Arkansas, Louisville Kentucky, etc…
The Van Had a cooler, a bench seat, and a futon, so we were basically stocked and ready for anything. The drive to Vegas, and the 3 days we spent there was taxing, Sal lost all his money and his Liver, and Dave spent most of the trip Doing Impersontaions of Sal, to a tee, and Gilly was now with us, so It was a full cast of Characters.
The drive home was still fun, even though after that much time in close quarters, and after a debacle in Sin City, it was easy for tensions to run high, like rolling into Little Rock for the first time ever. We had been Drinking across the state heading Eastbound, and were planning on meeting up with our friend Jud, who lived there. I didn’t have much to go on about Little Rock, except the HBO special called “Banging In little Rock” that made the place seem like a Middle American Nightmare, and that Clinton was Governor during that time, Prior to becoming President.
Right Off the Bat we are lost, Driving around this foreign city, with Sal reading the the magnified city map on our tattered Atlas, trying to Navigate us to Main street, seems easy Enough. Sal, is looking up, checking street signs, referring back to the map, and repeating turn left. We must have circled the entire city, with all these left turns, and I had to piss, so I was getting Anxious. All the while, we are driving in these dicey neighborhoods, with sketchy Characters a plenty. Finally, Sal and I are Arguing, about the left turns, being lost what Have you. At this point Sal warns me- “One more Word…” Followed by – “Alright, FUCK you….” and he throws the Atlas right out the window, stoked. Right where we stopped, a handful of dudes are on a corner, playing dice, and drinking 40 ounce bottles of Malt Liquor. Some how we were only 3 blocks from where we were heading, and we end up parking, it’s like 11 at night, and the tension has died down, as we all laughed how ridiculous the Map throw was. At this point, a severely cracked out guy in a trenchcoat and a poplar nylon turquoise hat asks us to buy some sweet Oakley sunglasses, its pitch black, we are broke, and Sal is MIA….
A few Minutes later he returns from a stroll to retrieve the Atlas, and we end up at Midtown Billiards….
