A Funny Ferry Tale

Things can be so strange here. Yesterday Tom and I drove to Spanish Lookout, and decided to take the ferry rather than driving the long way around over the bridge. As we pulled up behind the single car waiting for the ferry to get back to our side of the river, we saw the driver look in her rear view mirror, and then jump out of the car and run back to us as though she had been waiting for us. We both looked at her as she got to Tom’s window, and she blurted out “I’m afraid of the ferry! Will you go in front of me?” She was obviously very upset, so Tom, being the ever helpful Tom, asked her if she would like him to drive her car on and off the ferry for her. “Oh yes, I would really appreciate that! My husband said I should go this way because it’s so much shorter, and I didn’t want to do it, but I did, and then I wished I didn’t, and I’m so glad you pulled up behind me to help!” We couldn’t help but laugh, but she was so obviously relieved and had worried so much about this, that we were only too happy to help her. She had a legitimate concern with the ferry – the river is low, the ferry bounces, and sometimes getting the first car on the ferry can be a little bit of a trick if the car is small and gets to the ramps when they’re bouncing up. She was driving a Geo Metro, so I drove on first with Bluebell and waited on the ramp until Tom had her front tires on the ferry. I pulled on, he pulled on, the woman walked on, and we chatted as we were cranked across the river. When we got to the other side, I was the first off and actually had to wait a minute or two for the ferryman to get the ferry ramps positioned on the cement ramp – or I could have driven off into the bushes! But, once we were docked, I drove off, Tom drove the Geo off behind me, then the woman got in her car, Tom got in ours, and we were all off, safely on our way to Spanish Lookout!