That time my life was like Tommy Boy

When I was in college I loved the movie Tommy Boy. Classic Chris Farley kind of dumb humor, but hilarious in my mind. I discovered though, that sometimes when your life mirrors the movies it’s not as much fun.

The year after I graduated from college I moved to Oregon to work at a camp. As far as first jobs out of college go, it was awesome. I lived at camp, worked with high school kids and went mountain biking almost every day, new and exciting adventures were the norm. At the time I was driving my beloved Jeep Wrangler, the car I passed my driver’s test in and somehow convinced my dad to let me take with me when I went to Oregon. The thing about the Oregon high desert in the summer is that it rarely if ever rains. So I spent that whole summer with the top of the jeep down.

At the end of the summer camping season a friend and co-worker and I decided to drive up to Washington State and do a short camping trip in the Enchantments in Washington state. We took off in the jeep and as we transitioned out of the high desert and into the mountains it started to look like rain. No big deal. We pull over in a parking lot of a Target (or some such store) and start to put the top up for the first time in probably 4 months. At this point I notice that the seam where the front of the top connects to the windshield doesn’t look so hot. Remembering my dad’s advice that duct tape solves most problems I sent Ryan into the store for a roll and continue putting the top up. He returns with the duct tape, reinforce the front seam and get back on the road.

At this point we are way behind schedule and are never going to make it to a camp site before dark. No big deal, but we are hurrying to make up lost time. As we drive up a mountain pass maybe an hour from our final destination I hear the dreaded ripping sound. The front seam rips from side to side and the top is just flapping in the wind as we drive up the dark highway in the rain. It kind of ended like this, minus the deer:

Alas, we pulled over on a random logging road, set up a tent for the night and in the morning headed back home without doing any actual camping. We did drive the rest of the way into Leavenworth that next morning for breakfast, which is this really cool Bavarian town, and worth a visit if you are ever in that part of the country.

Moral of the story: I don’t even know- I guess don’t drive a jeep with the top down in the desert for months on end.