Joburg to Pretoria and the Homebaze
Tuesday night we spoke to to Dave and he told us he’d ask his boss to let him out at 10am Wednesday morning. The idea being that we wanted to avoid any potential traffic issues in and around Loftus Versfeld and Pretoria. We called yesterday morning and Dave gave us good news that he’d be ready at 10am. By 10:20am we were heading north to Pretoria. Along the way we passed the largest Feld(sp) Fire I’ve seen. Do you remember that scene from Days of Thunder where Tom Cruise has to make the decision whether or not to put the pedal to the metal and drive through the smoke, win the race and get the girl? All the while his crew chief is telling him “you can drive through it!” Imagine that scenario only we’re not going 180mph in Chevy Malibu race car rather 80Kmh in a Hyundai Atos Tin Can. With Dave in the back seat shouting “you can drive through it!” and Chris in the passengers seat, scarf wrapped around his face and snapping photos, I channeled my inner Cole Trickle, pulled my USA jersey over my nose and mouth, put the pedal down and in we went. For a slip second I thought I’d dunked my head in a milk swimming pool. I could see nothing but the faint pink glow of the tail lights in front of me. We came through the other side trailing smoke like Charlie Brown’s buddy PigPen( i think that was his name) and on we went as if it were a completely normal occurrence for us. TIA
We arrived at the Pretoria Park & Walk to find a dozen or so volunteers standing outside the locked gate. “what time do you open?” I asked.
“we are supposed to be open now but the site manager is not here.” replied the friendly gold and green clad volunteer.
We’d seen a few USA jerseys get out of a car around the corner so we decided the head over there. We parked next to Mercedes Benz and got out of the car when we were approached by a very unofficial looking man in a “SECURITY” hat.
“I am John. I am the security for these space. You must pay to park here.” He informed us.
“How much” Dave asked
“50 Rand”
Dave and i looked at each other, over to Chris, shrugged and handed him 50 Rand. As we headed to the pub Dave says to me “let’s just hope it’s there when we return.”
“Who cares. I’ve got the ‘Super Insurance’ package. We could light fire to that thing and it’ll only cost me R1800″ i replied.
Once again the USA supporters had reserved a “Bar” for traveling fans. We found the Homebaze African Restaurant easily on the end of a strip mall on the corner of Pretorius and (Clint) Eastwood St. It was packed and noisy at 11:30am with Red White and Blue a good 4 hours before kick off. We got there at the right time as within an hour the place was rammed and the line for the “Bar” was out the door. it seemed that every supporter in the place took a turn starting a cheer for the team, our table was closest to the bar and at one point a guy asks us “Do you have one for Robbie Findlay?” excitedly.
“yes. He’s Fast! He’s Quick! Keep him on the Bench!” i sang back.
He frowned but it was too late. the 10 or so people sitting at our had already joined in.
“I coached him for 2 years in Colorado.” he responded.
I was unimpressed. Fighting the urge to ask him if he really “coached” Robbie Findlay or just told him to go out and run really fast i bit my lip and said. “it’s OK. I’m from Columbus, Ohio. I’m just a little bitter.” I really don’t think he\had any idea the significance because he just stared at me confused.
An hour and a half before kick off we made our way to the smallish parking lot of the (Clint) Eastwood Centre which was now a sea of Red White and Blue. The stadium lights were peaking above the trees so we all started walking to cross Pretorius St. along came the USA team bus! The place erupted. As the bus turned left onto (Clint) Eastwood St. several jubilant USA fans ran along side the bus waving flags as if they were chasing Lance Armstrong up L’Alp de Huez.
It was only the beginning of something truly special.
bradfromohio@gmail.com
June 25th, 2010 at 10:20 am
LOL at Robbie Findlay!