THE RIDE TO TORONTO

The Ride To Toronto
It was 1975 and I was living in Vancouver. I had met Marilee at work. We had done a couple of Market Research surveys together when one day she told me that she was looking for a couple of people to share costs and help drive her jeep to Toronto where she was going to go to University. I volunteered. A friend showed us everything there was to know about cars. He had us change a tire and check the oil etc.
We packed her jeep to the roof. There was just enough room for someone to stretch out diagonally across the top of everything to get some sleep. A man answered her ad and became the third driver. He was meeting us in Calgary at my parents, after he went to Edmonton. The plan was to take shifts driving with one of us getting some sleep.
January 1st, Marilee and I headed to Calgary. Our friend had not taught us anything about fuses blowing, which happened to us while driving late at night near Cache Creek leaving us with no head lights. We flagged a car down and learned about fuses from that kind gentleman. He switched fuses around so we had head lights.
Randy hadn’t taught us about thermostats either. Turns out the jeep had a summer thermostat installed in it, which was why we couldn’t get any heat from the heater. The dealer at Cache Creek didn’t have one in stock so we bundled up in sweaters and coats, gloves and scarves pressing on, planning to get one when we got to Calgary. We stopped in Banff at the Hot Springs pool to get warmed up. Coming down the hill from the pool we were sliding around on the snowy icy road and went into the ditch. Putting it into 4 wheel drive got us out. Driving into Calgary we were stopped at a police check and asked for a driver’s license, which we said was in our purse back there somewhere. We explained we were close to my parents place, our destination and explained about the thermostat problem explaining why we were scraping ice off the inside of the windshield and dressed in all our clothes. The guy waved us on.
When we were telling my parents about the thermostat, my dad asked why we hadn’t just put some cardboard in front of the radiator. A fix that I hadn’t remembered and Randy hadn’t taught us.
Joe, arrived a couple days later from Edmonton. Winter thermostat installed, we were ready to head east. We also had some cardboard in front of the radiator and had to stop at Chestermere Lake, just east of Calgary, to let things cool down because the radiator boiled over.

Somewhere along the way we dipped down into the U.S.A. After a few days we noticed Joe was not sleeping. He told us that he can’t sleep in a moving car. I remember one time late at night when he was driving through a small town, he stopped in the middle of an intersection when the light was green and then continued on when the light turned red.
On one of Marilee’s driving shifts, the jeep started slowing down. We happened upon a truck stop where we were told we needed a new part. They would order it and it would be shipped out by Greyhound. The truck stop had rooms so we rented one for the 3 of us. It was here that Marilee and I had a chance to talk about Joe’s driving and decided to tell him that he couldn’t drive anymore if he didn’t sleep.
The mechanics were in slow gear, close to being in reverse. The part didn’t arrive on the bus the next morning and after nagging them, it was suggested they could install something else, somehow. Just then another Greyhound bus pulled in and the ordered part was delivered. Job completed and a good night’s rest, we were on our way again.
We made a stop to visit with Marilee’s friends in Madison, Wisconsin, before returning to Canada where we headed for Toronto. We dropped Joe off. Turned out he didn’t have enough money to pay his share either.
Marilee and I rented an apartment on the top floor of an old 3 story house. I went to visit my Aunt Marg where she worked and started working there the same day.
I spent a few years living and working in Toronto. I took a driving trip to Florida with my bosses brother. Summers were spent at the cottage country. I eventually met Alan and moved back to live with him in Quesnel, B.C. after moving back home to Calgary.
There are many stories within the stories. Memories all in this present moment. Relationships and friendships that have come and gone, all but forgot.
So this is how I landed in Toronto on this life journey of mine.



Dec 1, 2008 Memoir Writing Homework Assignment > Young Adult Story 2