Free Gas!
We were getting anxious about the time. It was the end of our Christmas break. We had driven to see family who lived 20 hours away. It was Sunday, we had to be back to college Monday morning and we were close to running out of money. It seems that college kids aren’t great about money management, at least we weren’t.
Two people on a 350 Honda motorcycle is not luxurious, but it was a good bike, great on fuel economy and we were young enough to think that a thousand mile ride would be great fun. We talked about our options as we bumped along on the ride toward home. We could stop to sleep; we had our pup tent strapped on behind, or we could push on and get some sleep at home.
About that time it occurred to us that the gas stations were closing and we would not be able to buy gas through the night. So, we stopped to fill up when we thought it might be our last opportunity. The plan was to drive as far as we could then sleep until the stations opened up in the morning.
Riding a bike is more tiring than riding along in a car. You are always conscious of your balance and the wind is a constant, buffeting battle. We could hear each other talk, but it was an effort. Most of all, there is absolutely no napping when you get drowsy.
After that last fill up, we only had about ten dollars dollars left. Even though ten dollars went a lot further in the 70’s, it wasn’t going to be enough to buy food, drinks and gas. As we went along, we became hungry, thirsty and cold. We discussed stopping to sleep, but the prospects of being hungry, thirsty and cold would make a long, sleepless night.
Eventually, we saw that our gas was getting very low and noticed a big station ahead that still had lights on. We drove up to the pumps, but discovered that even though the overhead lights were on, the station was closed and the gas pumps were off. I had hoped for the chance to get something hot to drink, but that wasn’t going to happen.
As we sat there thinking about the situation, looking at all those gas hoses hanging in silence, we got the idea to check and see if there was any gas sitting in the bottom loop of the hose. There was! Not only that, there was about two cups or more! That worked out so well that we pushed our bike up to the next pump and found another two cups! We tried every pump hose at that station and it was easily enough to fill our gas tank!
That was so exciting that we drove off reinvigorated and wide awake. Eventually, we needed to get gas again and started to look for another big station. When we found one, the overhead lights were off, but there was plenty of gas hanging in those hoses! What a find! We talked about how with all the potential for free gas, we might as well keep driving all night. Besides, the gas stations would probably put a halt to this activity if we tried it when they were open.
There was another perk to not having to buy gas, we still had that ten dollars to buy hot drinks! We managed to stay warm and awake and arrived home in time to get some sleep before school. Everything ended up okay, but that was a gruelling trip and we never again went on a trip that long with that little bike. It is marvellous to be young, energetic, and though a bit foolish, still pull off a success!