July 12, 2007. Today was a travel day. A nine hour haul from Atlanta to Columbus, Ohio. It was a beautiful day for traveling—sunny, 75 degrees, with no humidity. The countryside was especially beautiful through Tennessee and Kentucky.
There were 2 noteworthy events. The first was at an old gas station somewhere in Appalachia, Tennessee. We were gassing up when 8 members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, Georgia Chapter, pulled up next to us to do the same. Dressed in black leather from head to toe, they looked menacing. So, naturally, Rudy asked me to talk to them. Heck, this might prove to be an interesing interview. I made small talk with them but they refused to be photographed or talk on camera to bloggers. I guess they were concerned about their online reputation.
Water spigot design
The next event took place in Kentucky. We were starting to ripen and in need of a shower. But we were bone dry on fresh water. So we pulled into a gas station that offered Air & Water. Yes!
Rudy pulled up and I connected our hose to the spigot. I tried to turn on the water. Nothing. I noticed a little screw in the mechanism. Hmm… this must have something to do with opening the valve. So I turned it with my hand but it was stuck. Luckily, I brought some tools along. I reached for the adjustable wrench and gave the screw a few turns. Suddenly I had water— a mad gush of it. I quickly stuck the hose into the RV and filled that thirsty puppy up. Ahh… successs. But wait a minute—-
How do I turn off this gushing fountain? Oh yeah, that little screw—but damn, where is it? I banged on the RV to get Rudy out to help. Neither of us could turn the water off. When we found the screw, it would not go back in. We called the women who manned the station and they couldn’t stem the torrent either. And no one knew where the master shut-off valve was located. Oh, my goodness!
What followed cannot be adequately explained here— you had to “see” it. Luckily, Rudy reached for the camera to capture the debacle.
Finally, the woman stood with the hose crimped and told us to go. I said “But that’s our hose.” With a disgusted look, she handed it to me to unscrew from the faucet. As the water continued to flow, we fled.
As she stood in the rising tide of water, I saw the upset woman jotting down the names on the RV. Brad, if you get a water bill from Kentucky, we deny everything.
To be continued, on the road…
