The Journey

So, I went to pick up the float tank from John's ranch in Santa Barbara last week and I am just now able to process the whole adventure and post it here (I back-dated this entry). My friend Charlie has a pick-up with a trailer hitch and came along to help me out. I really had no idea what to expect. We only knew that the tank was "sitting on a trailer" on the property. Charlie and I are not exactly well-versed in the ways of farm trailers and transporting large objects, so it was a bit of a shock when we arrived.
The ranch itself was filled with various cars, vans, buses, and other items. There had been a lot of rain, so it was quite muddy. When I saw the tank sitting on the trailer, I was a bit concerned. It was a much bigger tank than I expected. In fact, it was the biggest one I had ever seen. It looked like some kind of soviet era missile. Even more concerning was the larger and more rustic than expected trailer it was sitting on. Our original plan was to load the tank onto Charlie's truck and drive off with it. The tank proved too big and heavy for such an endeavor (not to mention that the recent rains had filled it with muddy water. Right around this time, John called to see how things were going. He quickly vibed my lack of enthusiasm about transporting the tank on this trailer all the way to San Luis Obispo. "I've towed tractors on it," he said - or something to that effect. John was nice enough to offer a refund if I decided against this adventure. In truth, I was 50-50, but finally got the "you've come this far" mentality back on board and decided to go for it.

Charlie began to strap the tank down to the trailer. If there is a procedure for strapping a float tank sitting on two pallets on a trailer, neither one of us was familiar with it and I have no advice to share on this matter for anyone in the same predicament. Just before leaving, John directed me to the pump/heater unit, which was stored in an old 1964 Corvair van (the property appeared to be a bit of a Corvair museum and I am thankful that I have gotten over my "wouldn't it be great to fix up an old car" phase of life). We loaded the heater/pump unit into the pickup bed and set off for the long ride home just as darkness fell. No doubt anticipating disaster, Charlie handed me the keys to the truck for the ride home, which turned out well, since he seemed to have a better grasp of straps. I couldn't do the ride home justice. Suffice it to say that watching a large float tank bouncing up and down on a trailer and snapping some heavy-duty tie down straps is enough to put more than a few gray hairs on your head.
The tank sits on my driveway, garnering perplexed looks from my neighbors as I try to figure out how to get it into my garage...