Rolling
That tour I did with Faun Fables had some rough routing. For example there were no gigs between Tucson and Atlanta - but at least we had 60 hours between shows to drive there. However we were traveling in a Minnie Winnie that maxed out at like 55 miles per hour (on flat roads). So we had to pretty much remain in constant motion on the highway for the epic trek east.
I had one of the night shifts, fighting to stay awake in the dark silence of the RV as Dawn, Nils, and Jenya snoozed on the bunks. I needed a break to counter the monotony of these southern highways that lulled me toward sleep. A rest stop appeared and I pulled over. I got out to stretch and get some air. Eventually I was drawn to the light emerging from the bathrooms like a moth to flame. I took a token leak and then got back on the road.
About 5 minutes later I panicked and I realized I didn't check the bunks to make sure everybody was still on board. Most likely nobody else woke up during my brief respite a moment ago, but it may have been possible that one of the ladies went to use the facilities while I was in the Men's, and I simply drove away without them. Uh oh.
I wanted to yell out, "Is everybody here?" but also didn't want to needlessly wake them up if they were. My heart raced as I continued down the road. I finally reached the next exit and pulled into a gas station.
I popped out of the driver's seat and hurried to the back of the RV where me and Jenya shared a bunk. In the darkness I heard her breathing. I could also hear two sets of exhalations from the other bunk up front. Phew. We're all here.
I stood there calming myself down for a moment, staring out the window. I felt a little dizzy from the sleeplessness combined with that recent pang of panic. So it took a moment to register what was going on outside - it almost seemed as if the gas pumps were moving sideways. How odd.
Wait a second. The pumps aren't moving. WE are moving. Turns out in my haste I left the RV in neutral, and the whole vehicle was rolling backwards.
Fuck! I ran back to the front, jumped right into the driver's seat and slammed on the brake. This caused the whole Winnebago to stop instantly with a jolt, waking everybody up.
"Is everything okay?" Dawn asked. "Yeah," I answered, "Just stopping to fuel up. Sorry about that. Still getting used to the brake."
As I write this story down I'm not sure if I ever admitted to everybody aboard that I let the whole RV roll out of control for about 30 feet at a gas station while miraculously not hitting anything. Now we all know.