This weekend Darin and I went to Georgia to go rafting for Father's day weekend. We left Friday afternoon, and we almost didn't make our flight even though we left Iowa City to get to Moline in plenty of time. Darin's '80 BMW has some problems. There is something wrong in the wiring that won't allow his battery to hold much of a charge, but this is usually fixed by plugging in the battery or getting the engine up over 55mph for over an hour. Well something happened when we went to Hannibal, MO 2 weekends ago, and it just won't hold a charge at all. So now when we want to get the bike started, we have to find a hill and roll start the bike. It's a pain in the ass, so for the past week the bike has just sat in the parking lot.
So on Friday we managed to get the bike started and took off towards the airport. We took the motorcycle with us because we were going to get it looked at and get some work done to it before we left. (The dealer is in Rock Island) About 2 miles from the Mississippi on the Iowa side, Darin pulled over (I was driving the Jeep) and he had me switch his bike off of reserve which would give him about 30 more miles. Plenty of time for us to get the bike to the BMW dealer. We hit the road again and not 2 minutes later he pulls off on the side of the road and the bike has died because it ran out of gas. Darin pushed the bike back up to the nearest on ramp and parked the bike while I turned around and went to go find a gas station. I pulled off on the same exit that he was and went looking. Ten minutes later I found one. I spent 10 dollars buying a gas tank and then spent another 10 minutes trying to figure out how to put it together. While all this is going on, I'm on the phone with my dad, his parents, and the dealership to see if they have a trailer to come get us, and of course this is the one day a week that there is no trailer. Go figure. I get it filled and go find Darin. As I pull up to him, there's a guy in a truck who has pulled over to help us roll start it on the flat ramp (the guy is a BMW owner as well). We get the bike filled and roll started, and finally all is looking well. I get in the Jeep and follow Darin on the ramp. He pulls off again on the side of the road, and waves me own, or so I thought. I drive another 50 feet or so and look back and he's still on the side of the road. I stop the car, get out, and run towards him. He starts running away from the bike back down the on ramp. The man is keeping the bike reved so it won't die on us. Darin has lost his glasses. He wasn't wearing his normal glasses for the bike, and apparently when he turned back to see if there was anyone merging, his glasses flew off his face. So Darin and I are on the side of the road looking for his glasses. He's no use without his glasses, so it's up to me. Darin tells the guy to just leave the bike because we have to get to the airport in 20 minutes. Oh and now it's starting to sprinkle. We keep looking for another 5 minutes or so, and finally decide to call it off. As we cross the road, I run across his glasses! Darin gets back on the bike and we decide to give it one last try. I push the bike down the shoulder and it starts! Great we still have to time to get to the airport! Darin takes off on the bike and I make my way back to the car. Now I wished the story ended here, but it doesn't. Not one minutes after I was back on the road, it starts pouring. A few miles later, I pull off on the exit and start to make my way towards the airport. While I'm driving, I get a call from Darin. He's lost, and I think that he took a wrong turn. I can't really understand him but I tell him to head back to the exit and try again. After I hang up with him, I see him driving past me in the wrong direction. Finally I get to the airport after calling him multiple times to turn around. I go inside and check our bags. The next thing I know, Darin shows up next to me soaking wet. He changes and then I lose him for another 10 minutes because I didn't know what bathroom he went to. We go through security and then ,of course, my purse gets pulled for inspection. We have 10 minutes to catch our flight. I'm in full out tears and frustration right now, and I think "What the hell is in my purse?" Then I remember that I have a pocket knife that I carry on my keys. I go over and fish the keys out of the purse. The guy asks if I just want to mail the whole thing back to me. Fine, whatever. We head to our get with 5 minutes to spare. I then remember that I have my multi tool in my purse as well. Oops. Then when we get to the gate, it starts raining sheets. You can't see five feet out of the windows. There was a rolling cart just past the window and it was gaining a lot of speed and crashed into something. There was an announcement saying that all passengers and personnel should step back from the windows, and the the power goes out. Luckily our plan was only late 30 minutes.
So the rest of my weekend went well, great rafting! I still took all of Monday off.
~Until Then
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