Are YOU Going to Drive the Truck?

This morning, when I dropped off the van--a local rental--and picked up the truck--a one-way to Santa Fe rental, the manager asked, "are YOU going to drive the truck?"

It is a little daunting ... but I did manage to drive it back to the apartment and park it in the space between two carports and miss the tree out front.

I was reminded of my first U-Haul adventure, when I drove a truck-full of my belongings 2400 miles from Sonoma, California to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I stayed with quilter friends in Utah and Nebraska and the husband of one of the friends was out of town, but told his wife that he would like to have met a woman that would drive a U-Haul across the country.

This morning I assured the manager that although I wasn't sure if I had driven a truck quite this big, I did manage to drive a truck towing my vehicle through snow and ice for 1200 miles. I blogged about that trip, here.

This is a very big truck--I actually reserved a smaller one, but when U-Haul offered a larger truck at the same price, I took them up on their offer ... remembering how, despite assurances from the movers in Michigan that all my belongings would fit in the truck I had rented, ultimately they didn't.  I'm not looking forward to driving this beast across Texas, but, at least, I know that all my belongings will fit.

When I drove from California to Michigan, the truck broke down in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming and I waited for almost 5 hours for help.  When I drove from Michigan to Texas, the trailer (with my car on it) had a flat and I was on the side of the road, dodging snow plows, after only about 5 minutes on the road.  This truck was supposed to have a 1/4 tank of gas in it, but the fuel gage is resting at less than empty--cross your fingers for me that after it is loaded and I'm on my way, I make it to gas station in time ... and that there are no vehicle problems.