Road Trip: Blogged (Yesterday)

Yesterday was the first day of the road trip that Tiffany and I didn't have her dad with us, which probably explains why we almost ran out of gas in the middle of Missouri.

With Gary, we filled up every time our gas gauge hit the quarter-tank mark, but Tiffany and I thought we'd go right to E before we stopped that morning. We waved off a visible-from-the-highway station confidently, only to be leaning forward in our seats a few miles later as we passed... absolutely nothing.

"It's fine," I said. "We have 30 miles once the light comes on."

Tiffany was quiet.

"Right?" I asked, the pitch of my voice creeping up. "Or is that some myth I've acquired in my many years of hardly-ever-driving?"

We shouted when we saw a Sunoco off in the distance only to discover that the last gas pumped there may have been shortly after Lewis and Clark passed by.

After several exits that said "No Gas," there was, finally, a very ambiguous blue "Gas" sign that listed no gas stations.

"What does that mean?" I shrieked. "There must be no gas here!"

"Or maybe they just haven't gotten around to putting up the sign," Tiffany countered.

"I don't know..." I hesitated. "I mean... if there was a station, don't you think they'd..."

I'm always indecisive at precisely the moment a decision is crucial.

"I'm going," Tiffany said swerving toward the exit ramp.

Anyway, there was a gas station. Tiffany and I sighed in relief and were halfway to the bathroom before we realized Gary wasn't around to man the pump.