As you might remember, I just returned last week from a trip to the US. It was three lovely weeks all up and down the West Coast of the US, from San Diego to Seattle.
We started the trip in LA, which I finally realised — after having visited there a half dozen times before — that I don't really like. I suppose if you're super rich, LA is nice. I am not super rich; neither are my friends in LA.
After the other City of Angels, we had to get down to San Diego to visit friends. After looking at the prices of train and air tickets, we decided that renting a car would be just as cost effective and allow us to get from central LA out to the Valley to meet friends we have there. So I got a hold of Enterprise Rent A Car and booked the smallest car I could find — after all, we only had to travel three hours down the coast to see our friends in San Diego.
I got to the rental car place at the appointed time, only to find that there were no cars available there. Not only were there no cars there on a Wednesday afternoon, there seemed not to be any cars in the whole of the central Los Angeles area. Imagine that for a minute: LA with no cars? That's like … well, Bangkok with no cars.
So, after waiting there for an hour or so with several other parties who were also waiting for cars, the attendant asked if I might be interested in renting a pickup truck. After finding out that it was a very large, full sized pickup, I demurred. But after another half an hour, with my fellow customers — who also didn't want the pickup — growing increasingly angry, I reevaluated the situation.
After learning that I would get the truck at the compact car rate and that there would be several other perks to sweeten the deal, I relented and told the folks behind the counter that I would, indeed, take the truck. They seemed very grateful, and promptly whisked me off to a nearby location to pick up the truck.
And what a truck it was. It wasn't the biggest vehicle I'd ever driven, but it was probably a close second.
The one thing that I can say was an advantage is that the streets in LA, and the US in general, are very wide. This is a good thing, because I needed every centemetre available to maneuver that monster.
On the other hand, it was really fun to drive. You can really see everything from way up in that cab. There's no danger of not being able to see all the other cars on the road — and I do mean all of them. Plus, inside the cab was as fancy as any car I've ever been in.
The drive down to San Diego was uneventful, and I didn't even have trouble remembering to drive on the right-hand side of the street. So that was a plus, and saved us from a head-on collision.
One of the things that you learn when you travel is that you're lucky if you get everything you were expecting, or indeed everything that you wanted. Such was the experience with my car rental.
I hadn't planned on driving a truck while I was home, and I certainly didn't want to. And in the end, I got more than I bargained for.
That's not always a bad thing.
Sean Vale
Editor
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