To Grandmother's House We Go

My last day of work at the Excel Eye Center was December 31st. It's weird to think that I don't have a job anymore. I gave my two weeks notice in preparation to go to Colorado for a little while to help out my parents. Excel was really nice about everything and even had a going away lunch for me where they served french toast. It was great! I hope it doesn't take too long for them to fill my spot.

Jeff and I left for Colorado late Sunday night after I got back from my cousin Matt's wedding in Spokane, WA. Jeff was amazing and drove pretty much the entire way while I slept. We got all the way to Vail, CO when Jeff pulled off the highway for a quick rest stop. I woke to Jeff yelling "Crap, crap, crap!" before we slid headlong into a snowbank. Thankfully, the snowbank was thick and frozen over or else Jeff and I would have slid right over a small cliff.

We couldn't get the car unwedged, so Jeff called our insurance for a tow truck. We didn't know exactly where we were, so Jeff walked the rest of the way in the bitter cold to the rest stop to try to get a mile marker for the tow truck.

A few minutes after he had left, I saw lights coming over the hill behind us. Hoping they would see the car and help us out, I turned on the hazards. I watched a snow plow come around the corner and then watched him try to turn to miss our car. He was able to turn the plow, but he continued to slide down the hill sideways right towards me. I grabbed the driver's seat and hung on as hard as I could as he smashed into our tiny Rio.

Once again, the snowbank saved our car and kept me from going over the edge of the cliff. I was shaken up but felt okay enough to get out of the car. I wanted to see if the plow driver was okay. When I got out, I saw Jeff coming back around the corner where the rest stop was, and I could hear the plow driver reporting the incident. Jeff wrapped me in the blanket we had in the car (I had stupidly not grabbed my big coat from home and was just wearing a thin jacket) and sent me to go wait at the rest stop while he sorted things out.

We hit the snowbank at about 2:50am. We finally drove away from the wreck in the tow truck a little after 6am. Jeff was absolutely exhausted and we were both freezing.

Our insurance sent us and the tow truck to Evergreen, CO, about 80 miles away. Our truck driver, Matt, was a very nice guy but the cab of his truck was very crowded and it was a long drive. Once we finally got to Evergreen (about 7:50am), we dropped the car off at the auto body shop and grabbed some breakfast at the gas station next door. The shop called us back and told us the car could take up to two weeks to fix if it wasn't totaled. Thankfully, they were also a Hertz rental, so we rented a car and drove the last few hours to Colorado Springs. It had been a long and awful morning. We got out of Evergreen after 9am and got to the Springs between 11am and 12pm. When we got there, we slept until 4pm.

I am so grateful that everyone is okay. Jeff took me to the hospital yesterday to make sure Michael was okay. He hadn't been as active and I hadn't felt "right" since the accident. I was such a relief to hear his fast little heartbeat and feel him move as soon as they strapped him down with the belt and heart monitor (I guess he didn't like it because he kicked the monitor a lot). They did a blood test to see if the baby's blood and mine had mixed. There was a little mixing so I got a RhoGAM shot. Overall, the visit took more than 3 hours. It was worth it, but we were very happy to get out of there.

I am feeling a little sore from whiplash, but nothing serious. I'm making another appt to get myself checked now that we know Mike is fine. The one who suffered the most through all this was our poor car. It is going to be totaled, but at least we own it so we won't be losing any money.