White Out
Tonight was my work Christmas party and I was the center of attention. Just because I was there.I had gone to a Scholastic Book Sale in Bloomingdale with Barbara, Bettina, and Lauren. The sales were incredible, the selection was large, and the line was lengthy. But after an hour drive to get there and a couple of hours spent making our purchases...we all agreed that it had been worth the trip. But the trip was not over yet. We stopped at a McDonald's for some much needed coffee after a long morning of shopping. That restaurant had quite the time getting our order straight but I amused my passengers with my ability to converse in a drive through and then we were back on the road. We had just passed through Virgil when I started to notice the drifts getting deeper.
In the midst of one such drift the car in front of me started to swerve. I saw the front end wobble and the back start to fishtail. I let off of the accelerator in order to increase the gap between us. I wanted to give him as much room as possible.
Then he over compensated and started turning in the opposite direction. He was in trouble and I needed to slow down. I had just unlocked my 4-wheel drive because it was making my brakes lock up in the parking lot. Dumb idea! I wasn't slowing down fast enough and his car was doing 360's in front of us. I was sure that he was headed toward the west bound ditch which looked pretty steep. But even if he was going to pull out of that tailspin I was getting too close to keep from sliding into him.
I decisively moved into the opposite lane: smooth and rapidly losing speed. But I was looking oncoming traffic dead on. The way I see it I had a few choices. Hit the spinning car in my lane, hit oncoming traffic head on, or go for the opposite ditch. You had better believe that I glanced at my passengers, who had silenced the conversation, did a rapid seat belt check (not that I could have done anything about that if they hadn't been buckled...but thankfully they were), and I went deliberately into the ditch.
As with most snow impacts this one was silent and greatly cushioned. As soon as we hit the shoulder my front end nose-dived throwing a blanket of snow over my windshield. White out! Great! Now I can't see. I tried to keep moving as I ploughed up the embankment, the snow blanket fell out of view and we came to a very sudden halt. Darn. I am going to need a pickup truck and a log chain.
Immediately I notice that we are at a startling angle. Looking from the driver's side to the passenger side was like looking way down. I looked at the coffee that I still held in my right hand amazed that I hadn't spilled a drop. From here the details get fuzzy for a while.
I remember apologizing a couple of times and feeling light headed and shaky. We all laughed for a moment assuring each other that we were all fine. I climbed out of the Explorer to assure the concerned witnesses that we were all fine as my cell phone equipped friends called AAA.
This being Bettina's first winter in Illinois she is rather excited about the snow. We joked about how she must be so excited to be enjoying her first "ditch experience." She did make a couple of calls that were quite humorous to assure everyone that she was ok...but in a ditch for the first time!
As fate would have it the car that witnessed this beautiful thing was a former student of mine who was with his mother. By Monday, I can assure you that the whole school is going to know about this incident that involved three of his teachers. I think we should milk it for all that it is worth and go in with neck braces, ace bandage wraps, and crutches.
A tow truck stopped but wanted $95 to pull us out. We said that AAA had already been called. He laughed saying that we would be waiting for a while.
A creepy guy with a van pulled over and insisted on helping. He told my passengers that they should get into his van claiming that he had "treats." Barbara said that her mother had told her never to get into a stranger's car, especially if they offered you treats. He was of no help. He left.
He came back about a 1/2 hour later. This time with his kids and some nylon rope stuff. It is pretty heavy duty. My dad uses it for stuff like this. But my car was seriously burred. In order for me to lock in my hubcaps I had to wade through thigh high snow, dig just to find the front tire, dig even deeper to find the little lock thing. Needless to say...after trying to dig me out, shove rugs under my tires for traction, and breaking his tow rope...he left again. Confused that he had been unable to save the day. He declared that I was going to need a "serious rig" to get out of that mess.
Enter the useless sheriff. I don't know how this guy thought he was being helpful, but after asking if we wanted to file any sort of a report, he just sat in the squad car. He did however, suggest that we call AAA back to get the company's name so that he could call and hurry them along. We had already been in the ditch for over an hour at this point with no sign of them.
Next came the guy with the BIG truck. He was interested in helping. Especially once I had tried to explain that it was pretty hopeless due to the last failed attempts. Challenge a man's ego and he will do anything for you. ;) This guy was pretty impressive. He jumps into the truck bed and produces a shovel and a real tow rope. I thought that this just might work. We broke his tow rope twice. He just wasn't willing to give up.
The police officer then tells us that the company that AAA was "sending out" was not yet on their way because they were waiting for some sort of confirmation or something. Did they think we were joking about being stranded in a ditch buried in snow?
We decided to cancel the AAA call and get any tow truck that could come. The police officer mentions that it may still be a while since the driving conditions are so bad out.
The nice guy with the BIG truck (whose name I never did get) told me at this time that he was going home (20 min away) to get his log chains and that he would be back here in 40 mins to get me out unless the tow truck got here first.
The tow truck got there about 5 mins later. Low and behold it was the same $95 guy that had first stopped. He laughed at me and told me that he had been right all along. He had me out in 5 mins tops. 5 mins. = $95 I am going to quit my job and become a tow truck driver.
It felt so good to be on the road again after sitting in a cold ditch for over 2 and a half hours. I had been up to my waist in snow which had melted, soaking my jeans and then freezing them to my skin. I actually had to tear them off my body (ouch!). I cannot tell you how good heat felt.
I felt really sad that guy with the BIG truck didn't make it back on time to save the day. I really kind of liked him. And I really DIDN'T like being laughed at and hearing, "I told you so!"
I rode with Barbara and her husband to the Christmas party tonight: thankful to be a passenger. Our story was the conversation of the evening. Being the center of attention isn't everything that it is cracked up to be.
I wish that I could say, "Thank-you" to the guy that tried to help me. I may have to employ some stalker-ish tendencies...
I checked my car and I didn't notice any damage other than a missing "Ford" emblem. And yes, my spare keys are still safe..."Those things are amazing!"
posted by Trisha @ 10:21 PM
