Summer, 1996, was before my ol 72 bus took a dump on me. NW of Tucson, AZ rolling round the desert roads. We started not too far from Avra Valley, off Pipeline Rd and were just cruising the desert roads. After awhile I was going down a very small inclined dirt road, hit a small pot hole and my RH ball joint popped out. Couldn't steer the bus, she just kinda slid into a Palo Verde tree and snapped it in 2 (was about 8 inches thick too) Put a 10" dent in the front, no biggee. Luckily I had a few friends with as I had crap for a jack. After about 30min of messing with the RH BJ I got it to pop back in.
By then, the sun was gettin kinda low, so we decided to get outta there. Needless to say, we were having a little too much fun and forgot which turns/roads we took to get out there. After 45min of driving, aimlessly, the veil of night began to cover us. We find what looked like a 'main' road and take it. It goes and goes, hill after hill, grrrr. So, I decide, maybe we should turn around? Bad idea, right as I try and crank the wheel to U-Turn, I hit a rock and out pops the RH BJ again, I roll down the hill backwards and come to a stop.
We pile out, knowing what we need to do, though we are more tired than earlier this afternoon. An hour or so later and I got it to pop back in by use of VW bus force, I got super frustrated and decided to rock the bus (ever so slightly) while my buds straightened the wheel with some big branches. Somehow, we succeeded and that stubborn BJ popped back in.
We pissed on our fire (used for light) kicked some sand on it and got the crap outta there. Not 5 min into driving we see a set of headlights, though lone, they were still headlights. After convincing ourselves that it would be a good idea to ask these complete strangers in the middle of nowhere for directions, we drive a lil closer and one of my friends and I get out to ask them for assistance.
Heh, turns out they were 'lost' as well, but they had a map. The ultra-uber funny thing is and still puzzles me to this day is, they were from Canada (with Canadian plates) and they were lost in the southern Arizona desert?
Turns out, we ended up a stones throw away from I-10 (we were west of the hwy) not too far from Eli, just a tad north of Picacho Peak, some 40 miles north of where we started. What a day...
picture courtesy of www.ratwell.com
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