Stan was one of my best friends thru junior high at Joaquin Miller and McClatchy H.S. A wild and crazy guy, we did some of the dumbest but most fun things I've ever done. The summer we got out of high school, Stan and I hotwired his parent's Metropolitan automobile (remember those little tiny two seater POS cars??) when his parents were out of town for the weekend, we had an older friend of ours buy us several sixpaks of beer and took off to South Shore Tahoe to gamble. The clutch went out on the car just when we got to South Shore, we were locked in first gear with no clutch. Stan knew his parents would kill him if they found out where we had gone with their car so he turned around and started back to Sacramento at about 20 mph with the engine racing at high rpm. The first thing we did was throw the beer out of the moving car as we were sure we'd get stopped by the CHP somewhere along the way. We came up to the Agricultural Station at Meyers and just rolled thru it without stopping, yelling out "South Shore" when the attendant came out to ask where we were coming from. So we drove at 15-20 mph all the way over Echo Summit and down to Placerville etc. At one point, a large car came roaring up behind us in a turn, not realizing how slow we were going--the car slammed on its brakes and spun sideways and went off the road. We kept going, never did know what happened to that car. In Pollock Pines, we both needed to take a restroom break. We didn't dare stop the car because we knew we'd never get it started again so Stan pulled into a closed gas station, slowed way down and just drove round and round the pumps, I jumped out of the moving car and relieved myself behind a tree, then jumped back into the passenger seat while the car was slowly moving. Stan needed to go to the bathroom also so I slowly slid into the driver's seat while he was hanging outside the car on the door, when I was behind the wheel, he jumped out and went to relieve himself behind the tree. When he was done, I thought it would be funny to make him run a little so I pulled the car out of the gas station and started down the highway. Stan was running behind the car as fast as he could go, everytime he'd get close, I'd gas it and leave him behind. Finally when he was about wore out, I slowed down and he got back in the car. He was mad at me but it was sooo funny. We finally burned up the engine's valves at Shingle Springs and had to leave the car parked there, walked 10 miles back to Placerville and got a bus home. Stan had to tell his parents that he had ruined their car and it was up in Shingle Springs. I didn't see Stan for several months after that. I was afraid to go over to his house. LOL
Stan died in the Fall of 1997. Godspeed, Stan, I'll always remember all those crazy days.
Furman Lee Bunyard
Stan was one of my best friends thru junior high at Joaquin Miller and McClatchy H.S. A wild and crazy guy, we did some of the dumbest but most fun things I've ever done. The summer we got out of high school, Stan and I hotwired his parent's Metropolitan automobile (remember those little tiny two seater POS cars??) when his parents were out of town for the weekend, we had an older friend of ours buy us several sixpaks of beer and took off to South Shore Tahoe to gamble. The clutch went out on the car just when we got to South Shore, we were locked in first gear with no clutch. Stan knew his parents would kill him if they found out where we had gone with their car so he turned around and started back to Sacramento at about 20 mph with the engine racing at high rpm. The first thing we did was throw the beer out of the moving car as we were sure we'd get stopped by the CHP somewhere along the way. We came up to the Agricultural Station at Meyers and just rolled thru it without stopping, yelling out "South Shore" when the attendant came out to ask where we were coming from. So we drove at 15-20 mph all the way over Echo Summit and down to Placerville etc. At one point, a large car came roaring up behind us in a turn, not realizing how slow we were going--the car slammed on its brakes and spun sideways and went off the road. We kept going, never did know what happened to that car. In Pollock Pines, we both needed to take a restroom break. We didn't dare stop the car because we knew we'd never get it started again so Stan pulled into a closed gas station, slowed way down and just drove round and round the pumps, I jumped out of the moving car and relieved myself behind a tree, then jumped back into the passenger seat while the car was slowly moving. Stan needed to go to the bathroom also so I slowly slid into the driver's seat while he was hanging outside the car on the door, when I was behind the wheel, he jumped out and went to relieve himself behind the tree. When he was done, I thought it would be funny to make him run a little so I pulled the car out of the gas station and started down the highway. Stan was running behind the car as fast as he could go, everytime he'd get close, I'd gas it and leave him behind. Finally when he was about wore out, I slowed down and he got back in the car. He was mad at me but it was sooo funny. We finally burned up the engine's valves at Shingle Springs and had to leave the car parked there, walked 10 miles back to Placerville and got a bus home. Stan had to tell his parents that he had ruined their car and it was up in Shingle Springs. I didn't see Stan for several months after that. I was afraid to go over to his house. LOL
Stan died in the Fall of 1997. Godspeed, Stan, I'll always remember all those crazy days.
Lee