Goin' Out To Cally – Part 13, Cars, Crossroads and Cosmic Convergence

Somehow, waking up in Dallas gave me a sense of movement, accomplishment, a sense of making progress on our journey. Being the last of eight children, our parents never had a lot of money and our travels were primarily limited to visiting family in the northeastern part of the country. We almost always camped on our journeys, so staying in a nice hotel like the Red Roof Inn felt like a gift, an added bonus for taking the trip. With every state line we crossed as we headed West meant I was entering unknown territory, like Lewis and Clark, except on paved roads with fast food restaurants, air conditioned restrooms and, of course, sans native residents wanting to kill us.

That morning I convinced Tim to let me take the first drive of the day. Sitting behind the steering wheel, with the car successfully repacked, I was suddenly aware that our luggage had created a massively dangerous blind spot. Basically, the entire back hatchback window was blocked by our finely organized belongings. It did not daunt me, however, as in college I had to drive a large van with an extended back for my student aid position, so maneuvering a slick, speedy hatchback out of a parking lot was no problem at all, no matter what sight limitations challenged me.

Or so I thought.

A moment after sliding the stick into reverse and easing the Acura backwards, the car shuttered with a small “thunk!” I had hit something.

I got out of the car to find a small scratch on the back bumper and an equally surprised man from Los Angeles staring at the back of his rental car. As L.A. Man and I exchanged insurance information, Beth stewed with an excessively agitated “I told you so” look being equally distributed between Tim and myself. Tim calmed her as we re-entered the car, showing friendly confidence in me by allowing me to continue to drive his almost new, newly scratched sports car.

I’m sure to Beth’s surprise, I carefully continued out of the parking lot and made it to the interstate without hitting anyone.

As I put the car into fifth gear and settled into my shift behind the wheel, I pondered the unfortunate event in the parking lot. Considering the random nature of the universe, what are the odds that a man from Florida, driving a car he does not own, would back into a man from Los Angeles, driving a car he does not own, in a parking lot smack dab in the middle of the country? I mean, think of all of the people in California. Now think of all of the people in Florida. How many of those two groups would happen to be in Texas and how many of those would be driving cars they don’t own and how many of those would have stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Dallas, and how many of those would have parked in my blind spot and how many of those would have backed up at the same moment in time that I put that car into Reverse and how many of those would I have actually hit?

If you really think about it, what happened that morning was incredibly special!

I doubt I would have been able to convince anyone else… or myself, for that matter. I actually felt terrible. I just damaged my best friend’s car to kick off the third day of our trip. Normally, a trip such as this would strain any friendship. Add to that beating up his new car… well, that sure won’t soften the journey any.

The best thing I could do is to wait and let the event slip slowly into the ether. Eventually another conversation, another landmark, another state line would cross our paths and we’d all be focused on the next big adventure.

For now, I kept my eyes fixed on the road, staring at the arid Texas landscape quickly passing us by.

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Goin' Out To Cally - Part 13, (Text, Audio) Cars, Crossroads and Cosmic Convergence
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 12, (Text, Audio) Tumbleweed Dreams
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 11, (Text, Audio) Wet, Rinse, Repeat
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 10, (Text, Audio) Divine Misdirection
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 09, (Text, Audio) Getting Nowhere Fast
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 08, (Text, Audio) The Cock Crows Nine
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 07, (Text, Audio) Is Jackass A Sign?
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 06, (Text, Audio) Leftovers
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 05, (Text, Audio) The Kiss Of Friendship
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 04, (Text, Audio) Scholastic Intimacy
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 03, (Text, Audio) Space Invaders
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 02, (Text, Audio) The Fourth Wheel
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 01, (Text, Audio) The Seed Planted