The Car Wash
I have told this story numerous times since it

happened to me 25 years ago. I love to tell it as it

always gets lots of laughs and it helps me to

continue to "process" the incident.
OK...here goes...fasten your seat belt !!
So...it was July 21st...probably 1983ish...the day

before my birthday. My then wife, Judy, and I went to

the Sonoma/Marin Fair here in Petaluma to hear

Michael McDonald's band. ( he being the lead singer

with the Doobie Bros. ) In his band was the GREAT

saxophonist, Vince Denham a long time friend. Vince

had toured and recorded with Loggins and Messina
and Don Ellis' big band and was now on tour with

Michael. After the concert we " hooked up " with

Vince and a couple of the band members. They told

us that they were spending the night in town and

were off the next day...I told them that it was my

birthday the next day and would they like to come

over to our home for a BBQ ?They said that they

would love to.
I awoke the next day and Judy greeted me with some

wonderful gifts!! A beautiful silk shirt, a snazzy

sportscoat and some cool slacks. I quickly donned

my new wardrobe and headed out to get my old

Cadillac washed and to buy the food for the BBQ. I

first headed to our local car wash / gas station to "fill

'er up" and get the old car washed and waxed. The

owner of the business was Don Pierce. He was a

type A hard working local character. He felt that I was

a type A local character as well. His business was on

E. Washington St. across the street from the present

day 76 station. I came " cruising" into Don's station
and was greeted by Don himself...as he looked at me

askance, as he always did, he said..."what can I do

you for, Senator?" He noticed that I was ALL" duded

up"and exclaimed "what's the occasion,chief ?"
I responded that it was my birthday and to fill it up

and give me " THE WORKS "...I wanted my old

Cadillac to be lookin' great...clean...shiny...well loved!
I paid Don and hit the button to make my window go

up. What I didn't realize was that the window motor

died without making a sound and my window

stopped about 3 inches from the top, unbeknownst

to me. I must admit that I thought that I heard Don's

voice rather clearly talking to his employee. It didn't

occur to me to check my window , however. As the

gas tank was full, Don cheerfully motioned me

towards the " Rain Tunnel". As I got on the moving
conveyor belt and headed into the tunnel, I started

thinking about what I was going to get for our BBQ.
Suddenly a HUGE blast of warm water pummelled
the left side of my face ! I quickly noticed that my

window was down 3 inches and that I was getting

soaked to the bone. I started hitting every button on
the door panel hoping to make my window close but

to no avail. WHOOSH !! Now the "pink stuff " started
flying in my open window sticking to my new

birthday " threads"...the " blue stuff " soon followed
and last but not least...the " yellow stuff "came

pounding in ! Hundreds of multi-colored bubbles

were sailing around the inside of my car...the leather

seats were soaked...I was " thoroughly washed AND

waxed"...WHOOSH...now the " rinse cycle " started.
Two to three inches of colored water was flooding

the front of my Cadillac and NOW....the " rinse cycle".
I decided to " abandon ship" and I dove into the back

seat through the bubbles. As the car emerged from

the tunnel, Don and his " crew" were waiting with

towels to wipe down my car. As Don described it

years later, all he and his helpers saw as the car

exited the tunnel was hundreds of multi-colored

bubbles floating around inside the car AND...no

driver !! I imagine that this didn't help my image with
Mr. Pierce but it gave us all lots to talk about for

years to come !!