A close shave!

Hey everyone. Now, here is a little story about me being frightened for the very first time in the United States. So, I was driving to Princeton to cover a session for Uncle Peeps (Lee Pollard, for those who don't know) and the fuel gauge on my Ford Crown Vic turned to empty. I thought - should be okay to get there and find a gas station to fill up after completing the coaching session. I arrived safely and in good time. So I delivered one of my signature coaching sessions (I say signature because it is the best around...I may be the worst referee in the world but I sure am the best coach in the world!). Once I was done, I confidently stepped into my car and swiftly drove off.

As I left the fields, I was looking out for a gas station but one did not appear so I carried onto joining Route 206, thinking there will definitely be one somewhere along there. A couple of miles went by and still nothing. When things get a bit edgy, I tend to get overly nervous - as my parents will completely testify to! Anyway, so I was quite nervous at this point but was confident a gas station would soon turn up. However, everything changed - the car was out of gas.

So there I was - slowly coming to a halt with about 10 cars behind me. At this moment, I was panicking big time. I immediately started searching for the hazard lights, thinking that would make everything better. Eventually, I found them and switched them on. The car was still crawling but I could not pull over anywhere as there was no hard shoulder. The road was also in the middle of a wooded area, so there were not any shops etc. where I could pull in. So I kept going, hoping something good would happen.

And there it was - my savior: a downward hill. It felt like I was on a roller coaster - you know, when the cart crawls to that first drop. So with my hazard lights still flashing, I coasted down the hill and in front of me I saw a set of traffic lights and just beyond them a Sunoco gas station! However, as I was approaching the traffic lights, they were red. I knew I could not stop otherwise that would have been it. Thankfully, the lights turned green and I literally snailed my way into the gas station - relief to say the least.

That Crown Vic though eats up gas similarly to how I eat my food - extremely quickly! It was a good experience - scary - but good. Only in the US of A eh? I'm really looking forward to this weekend as it is the second tournament for my boys teams. I have a sneaky feeling we will do very well as the practices lately have been excellent. Both teams are really gelling together now. I'll be sure to let you know how the weekend's results go. Must go sleep now - got Kiddie Soccer in the morning! Yeah!