Sorry for the late reply. The last two years have been a rat-race running from one ordeal to another with pretty much zero time to do the things I used to love to do, including spending forum time bullshitting with you all about truck and trip things.
Desert Trip 2018 may not have been very challenging in the off-road department as with years passed but it was sure pretty and remote…..AND the ROAD stories we filed away in our memories this year were CRAZY.
First, Zoomad is totally downplaying the car accident portion of the trip. I don’t care who you are, that was a close one and the story is too funny not to go into more detail! I’ve known Rob for about 23 years since we were kids in college and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen all sides of him over the years through college, working at GM, working at Workhorse and just hanging out together in the garage but this day I saw a different Rob as I think he saw his life flash before his eyes.
Here is the story from my prospective……………..
So we just rolled off the Mojave Rd after 2 nights and 3 long days where the trail ended at a shitty gas station/truck stop place right on I-15. We all aired up, fueled up, dumped trash, filed water tanks and grabbed some road ice cream bars. Magnum Double Fudge ice cream bars to be exact.
Rob being a constant big hungry Teddy Bear had a boner for In-Out Burger since we crossed into California territory on the Mojave Rd three days prior, he was quick to want to hit the first In-Out we could find, which turned out to be Vegas (I won’t mention he chose the furthest Vegas In-Out Burger from I-15 that he could possibly find…seriously, look at my SPOT tracks of Vegas!). Anyway, he was anxious to lead the convoy to this fine lunch establishment and tore out of the truck stop leading the pack. I was second out of the dive and rolling on I-15 behind Rob by a few seconds. As I was enjoying the Magnum ice cream bar and got up to highway speed I noticed an annoying noise and vibration and quickly realized that I forgot to unlock my hubs. Normally, I am cruising speed limit or even over 5-10 MPH but with the hubs locks and hearing the 205 sing I was holding back rolling 5 MPH or so under speed limit for a change as we watch Rob crawl away from us up the hill. We were all taking turns squawking on the CB’s when this while BMW 7 series shot past us on the Right side which on CA I-15, that is the 18-wheeler lane. She was flyin too! Probably no less than 100 MPH and almost clipped the tail end of a semi in the far right lane right in front of us as she shot into the middle lane then straight over to the actual passing lane. MIL and I made mention of the typical asshole California BMW drivers and carried on enjoying our Magnum bars while I grabbed the CB mic to let everyone know I was going to pull over to unlock the hubs. While I had the mic que-d up and just blurted out that “Hey, I forgot to unlo……. Oh, SHIT!!!!”… Interrupted in mid sentence I see a huge puff of dirt up the highway from us on the approaching curve then I see the left hand tires of Rob’s K5 at least an inch (0r 6!) off the ground as it is headed straight for the center median. At that point, through the flying dirt, rocks and Beemer debris I was not sure if the BMW already hit him and he was in ricochet mode or if he was trying to avoid something but all I know is I saw a fear flash in my mind of his K5 making the typical easy to do hard Right-turn overcorrection in panic mode and seeing tires, top, shrapnel - tires, top, tires, shrapnel, bodies, beer cans, rubber dongs - tires, top, tires, shrapnel, water bottles, etc. Then somehow once the dust started to settle and we rolled up to the scene, he and Ian were already out of the truck and running to the whadded up Beemer. Wow, you talk about a sigh of relief to see Rob and Ian on their feet, K5 on its wheels and running to help this fawking idiot! I remember telling my MIL “Oh, THANK GOD” once we saw his rig on the side of the road with the shiny side up and “Man, I wouldn’t want to be them right now” as they were starting to kneel down and peek into the obliviated BMW. That thing looked like there could easily be fatalities if the car was full of passengers and I don’t do well with gore.
I parked right in front of Rob on the left hand median while the entire Northbound lane of I-15 was at a complete stand still. I noticed the Southbound lane started coming to a crawl with rubbernecks as well. I run over and see Rob and Ian then Jen helping get the beeeotch out of the BMW so I started snapping pictures. Luckily there was only one person in the car and she was hurt but not seriously. It was hot as balls and my phone was overheating taking funky wavy pictures.
Funny, here my MIL is standing in the LH median by that Chevy Cruze still eating her Magnum bar debating if she wanted to go get a closer look or not. She also does not do well with gore, puke, dog shit or anything gross so she hung back until she felt comfortable with the situation.
While people tended to the injured chick everybody else started clearing the debris field so we could open the left hand lane for traffic. It was amazing how much crap was scattered all over the highway for yards! And yards! And yards! The debris field looked like a friggen plane crash site there was so much crap scattered everywhere. Not just car bits, but laundry, make up, shoes, hair extensions, makeup, costumes, etc. Well, while we all picked up things someone (I think Ian) finds a phone on the ground. Not only a phone, but a phone in good condition face up with some DUDE on Facetime looking at him as he picked up the phone saying “WTF just happened to my car!??” (not asking about his woman but his car). Ian and Rob took turns talking to this dude for until Officer Poncherello showed up. It didn’t take long to figure out our new friend probably worked in the “entertainment” industry in Vegas and this dude on the phone may not have been her boyfriend but maybe her boss of sorts? Know what I mean?
Here is Ian talking to the dude while Jen and other tend to the chick
Once it was determined there wasn’t any gore or anything gross my MIL came over and helped Jen with the chick on the ground. There was also a nice truck driver lady that stuck around and used her semi to block traffic (her semi is not the one in this picture) and aided as well (lady in the white shirt on the left). My favorite part of this picture is Officer Poncherello on the horn calling in the stats. Just like CHiPs!!!! This officer was super cool the entire time and so appreciative of the support we all gave her and keeping the Interstate open.
More later………..
. That sucks you had your GoPro running the entire time we regrouped at the gas station then it was off a mile into the Interstate when the accident happened. Damned the luck. That would have been cool to see all of her underwear and entertainment attire spray out of the trunk on the Interstate on GoPro. The debris field looked like a Victoria Secret plane crash site more so than a car accident site.
