I had been with Silver Laughter for some time now and was given the great new responsibility of being able to drive one of the vans. I usually drove Mick’s van which was the one that towed the trailer. No pressure “right”? Here I am, 19 years old and responsible for thousands of dollars worth of band gear.
This new honor was at first taken with pride and bit of, (wow, these guys must think I’m o.k. I’m driving most of the gear down the highways of the Midwest). It was an honor for me until one winter night. I suddenly realized one very dark and lonely night driving in a major blizzard blowing across the rolling hills and plains of South Dakota, that this new responsibility had a very scary down side.
There was not so much as a tail light in front of me and the tire marks left by whatever vehicle that was ahead of me were filling with snow fast. Soon I was driving literally snow blind, no tracks to follow and no other cars on the road. The real kicker was everyone else was sleeping in the van, as it must have been 2 or 3 a.m.. I don’t remember where we were going or where we had come from, but I did now know what the term white knuckle driving meant. There must have been at least a foot of snow on the ground and snowing very hard.
Too scared to wake anyone and ask for help I knew that all I could do was keep moving and not stop that van, because if I did we would have been stuck for sure. I think my top speed was 30 MPH and sometimes slower but never faster as the trailer would start to want to pass me. I obviously made it to wherever we were going without incident but I volunteered less to drive in any weather. I think that’s when I learned about taking and being responsible for whatever life threw at me. It was a good lesson but not one I’d want to repeat.
Glenn (The Punk).
For another Glenn’s snow adventures go here!
Categories: History
Glenn’s two stories show how much time we spent driving through the snow in the Midwest! A LOT! Being young and dumb, we would sack out in the back of the van leaving one person to drive with total confidence we would safely get to where we were going. I still remember freezing my fingers off trying to mend trailer electrical wires that had snapped from the sub-zero temperatures with duct tape that was rapidly stiffening from the cold!