Every Saturday night in San Antonio a group of us meet at the ‘Old Albertsons’ on Babcock and Prue road. On average there are 10-20 people there with all sorts of vehicles like a 350z Nissan, Honda Civics, Accords, Ford Mustangs, Mazda RX7s and other nice vehicles. We are just a group of people who love cars and like to meet like minded people to talk about cars. During these meets we sometimes go on cruises to different locations and like to push our vehicles to their full potential. One spot would be the Cielo Vista road down I10 highway. Cielo Vista is about a mile long road with a lot of twist and turns some almost 90 degrees; the road has a dead end turn around. In our group we have some hardcore drifters, some who just want to watch and others that are just starting out. We’re a mixed group of good people.

On this particular night Fu (drifter car) and Robert lead the group up the road; Brian and Zach (350z) went 2^nd. I (POS Oldsmobile because my mustang is in the shop J ) and Sam followed in 3rd. We usually all head up the hill together but there was a problem with another car behind me which left the rest of the group behind.

As usual Fu and Brian left me behind as they sped up the road going 50-60 MPH on the sharp turns. It was the first time driving my Oldsmobile this way and I must say it held up pretty well. Powered with a V6 3.0 engine, every turn was answered by my passenger Sam with words as, ‘SLOW DOWN!’, There’s a Sharp Turn Ahead!, Ahhh! and other frantic statements.

Once we reached the top of the hill we turned and waited for the rest of the group. About 5 minutes later we saw a strange vehicle coming towards us. The vehicle which looked like a truck had its high beams set on us as it proceeded to block our exit. The driver then jumped out of his vehicle with a laser pointed M16 Assault Rifle! He placed an ammunition clip in the rifle and started to walk towards us!

At this time I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I have only once been a situation like this but that’s another story. I just couldn’t believe that there was a guy 10 feet away from me pointing an assault weapon at us. It didn’t register until the guy acting like Rambo locked and loaded his weapon making a metal on metal sound. Was this guy going to rob us? Did he want to steal Brian’s 350z Nissan? Or even kill us?

Once locked and loaded the guy pointed his rifle towards us and said he wanted our driver’s licenses. As Brian reached for his wallet you could see the laser pointed on his forearm. We were all stunned and afraid for our lives. Who is this hillbilly pointing an assault rifle at us? Zach the youngest of us was shaken. Sam and Fu didn’t say a word. Robert my brother was mad. He asked the guy several irrelevant questions and proceeded to curse at the stranger. Brian handed his ID to the stranger as well as the rest of us. The stranger took our ids and said he was placing us on “citizen’s arrest” for tearing up the road and doing donut holes. We simple drove up the road, parked our cars and waited for the rest of our friends. We did nothing wrong. Brian called the cops.

Parked on top of a hill away from the world we were hostages by a crazed man with an M16 Assault Rifle. After 5 minutes the guy backed up towards his vehicle, still pointing his weapon towards us and stood there waiting I assume for the cops. We stood helplessly in his headlights like deer.

Zach said something funny to cheer us up. Brian and my brother continued to provoke the stranger while waiting for the cops. One statement I remember my brother saying is, Fuck you! towards the stranger. We called our friends waiting on the bottom of the hill to tell them not to come and let them know that we were being held hostage by a crazed man. Zach farted a few times, claiming it was stress related. He later peed on the side of the road. Sam and Fu were surprisingly calm. Brian was very angry. He called his mother which I believe he said she is a lawyer and asked her for advice. Twenty minutes into the wait the guy with the assault rifle turned his car around and started to take off. Robert asked where he was going. The guy said the cops knew where he lived and knew where we were. I believe the guy went back to his house, which is on that street, to store his assault rifle. Brian wanted to give chase because the guy had our ID’s. We decided to wait for the cops.

Ten minutes later SAPD shows up and said, ‘Everyone raise your hands, who has the assault rifle!?’ Brian came to the rescue here and explained the situation. Brian also informed the cops his father is a Captain in SAPD and surprisingly the cops knew him. They told us to put our hands down and asked us a few more questions.

The sheriff arrives! The sheriff who we’re sure is a friend of the crazed man with the assault rifle blames everything on us. We were wrong to be there. The man pointing the weapon at us on a public road did nothing wrong. He had the right to kill you, which I’m sure was bullshit he said to scare us. He had nothing on us. We were parked on the road with no signs of donut holes being done. The sheriff gave our ids back and told us to leave and to never come back. This was fine for us!

We took off to HEB where the rest of our fiends were parked waiting. We hurriedly told them to leave, ‘the cops are behind us, take off!’.

Brian later said he was thinking about jumping the guy with the assault rifle as he handed his ID over, but didn’t want to take the chance. He wasn’t sure if we would jump in to help him. I told him I would help and I know my brother would help. I’m pretty sure the rest of the people with us would have helped but I’m glad he didn’t take that chance. As Brian said, ‘the man with the gun makes the rules.’

Tonight could have been a very bad but it wasn‘t. No one was hurt or went to jail. We all came home safe and now have a story to tell or write. One thing I have learned is that it‘s good to know people high up in the chain of command and I for one will never go up Cielo Vista again! It‘s a sweet drifting road but it‘s not worth getting shot by a Crazy Rambo Wanna be Motherfucker! I recommend if you do go down Cielo Vista road, do not stop for anyone! Turn your happy self around once you reach the top and keep going! If you see a large white vehicle approaching you!! FLOOR IT!!

Considering I live and eat for free where I’m staying… $3000 spent is ridiculous.

The list:

• $500 insurance deductible to fix my truck
• $600 to buy train tickets to California.
• $300 for a new phone (I jumped in a pool with my old one.)
• $50 Swimwear
• $200 hotel room for one night
• $200 loss at a Indian Casino
• $200 odds and ends
• $600 first class plane ticket home
• $150 I pay for dinner night.

Equals $2800 in 10 days! SOB!

I know I’m forgetting a few things, so add another $200 and we have $3000! WOW! This is not even counting the stuff I have to pay for, car payments, insurance, house, two phone payments, cable, internet and more. I estimate to spend another $1000 the last two weeks I’m here. ARG!

Was it worth it?

I’ve rode a train for the first time. I’m getting ready to fly first-class airfare for the first time. I’ve seen the famous California La Brea Tar Pits, and million year old dinosaurs being prepared for display. I ran my business away from home for the first time with success. I loss and won decent amounts of money at a Indian Casino. I’ve seen such beautiful sceneries while here. I drove on the edge of the Pacific Ocean with a crazy half asleep simi-drunk person going up to 90mph while trying to watch the dolphins jump out the ocean and survived. I’ve watched a nothing fight from a five story balcony in the middle of the night. I’ve got so drunk I puked all over my self and not care. I’m getting a tan from going swimming often. I’ve made an angry cat like me. I visited a small Danish town and ate some free chocolate. I’ve learned so much about the world outside Texas.

I can go on and on, but the point is money comes and goes. Living in a beautiful place rent free and with good friends is Priceless. At least that’s what my Visa card tells me.

Since I hit a deer a few day’s ago, my truck is now in a body shop and I was forced to take a train for my trip to California. The train ride took a long time! Almost two whole days! Luckily I had an entertaining friend who rode along with me, who her self was stranded. She was riding with me in my truck to California when I hit the deer, I blame her for it. Lol Just kidding. 🙂

The train ride was boring, we slept most of the way and the food and service stank. I know next time to take a plane which would take only a couple hours, instead of a couple of days wasted on a train. We stayed in a small room, with a bunk bed, and a pull out bed. The person I was taking the trip with, didn’t like heights, and she like to sleep a lot… so I was basically forced to sleep too, which sucked.

The AC was out most of the trip. We stopped it seems every 30 minutes. When I did finally go to sleep, the beds were horrible! I had a back ache either way I slept!

We did have a power source though, so I got to play games on my laptop. Space Rangers 2 is a blast! It takes some time getting used to, but it’s very addicting.

Well, we finally made it to California this morning. I just took a shower, and I’m ready to start my vacation with my friends.