We packed up to go home Monday morning, but not before hitting up I-hop for breakfast with my Grandma and Grandpa Durfee first. We have so much fun double-dating with those two. I have been going out with them on double dates since I was in high school, and it is always so much fun and the boys I have brought along have always fallen in love with them-I can’t say that I blame them. While we were eating, we came to the conclusion that Grandma should come back with us to visit and to see her Son and grandchildren living in Colorado.
We went beck to her place so she could pack up a few things, and then we were on our way! About a half hour into the drive, we got a voicemail from the people we were housesitting for telling us they were moving back and we needed to move out by the next day. This threw a bit of a wrench in Grandma coming, and so we pulled over and I took over driving so Ben could call them back and figure everything out. I had the weirdest knots in my stomach as I climbed in, did up the seat belt, and got the car back on the road. I figured it was just nerves since I rarely drove anymore, but it was sunny and had not snowed in a few days and I figured it was just the nerves of driving, along with the whole-you know-we may have just lost our place to stay and bring Grandma to scenario.
About 10 minutes of being back on the road again, I came around a sharp turn in the road that curved around a tall cliff. I barely had time to react when I saw the slush and snow covering the road. I let my foot off the gas and immediately got panicky. Ben could tell and immediately started reassuring me. That boy is amazing, I tell you. I tried to take as much control as I could, without overdoing it and making it worse, as we hit the snow covering the black ice. We started fish tailing, and the car fell silent, and that eerie movie-like slow motion effect took over. All I could think was, I am going to kill my husband and grandma, over and over again. All of us were analyzing the situation. To our left-a cement barrier. To our right-a steep drop off down to a river, that from where we were might as well have been a strand of yarn. I am sure we were all praying so hard that we would all make it-I know I was, but I as well as they, were also probably doubting that we would. The situation did not look good. Just as we were really getting scared the car straightened out and it appeared as thought we would pull out of it. Then the scariest moment of all-we hit another patch of black ice. It was not long before we were fish-tailing out of control, yet again. I had a distinct feeling to turn the wheel just so to avoid going down into the ravine, and luckily was calm and trusting enough to do just that. Just as I did, the car immediately spun a 180, and we all waited while facing the wrong direction, before the right corner of the back bumper slammed into the cement barrier and we began sliding along the passenger side of the car about 20 feet. When we finally came to a stop, I was grateful to see that nobody was badly hurt, but immediately started crying over the tension of the moment and realizing our new, and now probably totaled car was not going to be getting us back to Colorado any time soon. So we lost our home and our car in under 10 minutes-can you believe that?! Ben comforted me for a second, before the man in the truck from the other side of the cement barrier that saw us crash, pulled over to the shoulder and ran over to see if we were okay. After seeing we were okay, he quickly told me to hurry and get off the road before another vehicle came around the corner, did the same thing we had just done, and could possibly slam into us. I should have hurried and done this myself, but as you can imagine, I was pretty shook up and not thinking all too clearly. I hurried and did my best (with a broken rear axle-you should have heard the awful sound it made), but I eventually made it to the shoulder on the other side of the road and we got out to see the damage. The whole right side of the car was completely destroyed. I am talking side view mirror gone, hubcap gone, door handles pretty much gone, needless to say, it did not look too good. The good news? We were all breathing and standing next to the car and were okay. We all got knots again though as we looked down the steep slope to the river below. I still get those same knots when I think what could have happened.
A highway patrol man showed up on the scene a couple minutes later and began asking questions. Nothing really felt real to me in that moment, but I did the best to answer the questions and he complimented me on my good driving record and said there really was not much I could have done, but one lane was less messy than the one we were in, so he had to issue a ticket anyway. He also told me there had already been a couple accidents in that same spot just days before. I could not help but be a little disgusted that nothing had been done to improve that spot if that was the case, and all I could think of when I had to call that county to pay the $380 ticket, was to ask if they would please use that money to plow their roads better (considering it had been days since the last snowstorm), but I was nice and kept that part to myself. The highway patrolman got back in his car and drove away. The tow truck came shortly after and the nicest man I have ever met, gave us a lift to my grandparent’s to drop our things off, then to the repair shop, and then back to my grandmother’s house. I was in tears out of stress and fear the entire way, but thank goodness the accident happened then and not 4-5 hours in. We would have been really stranded then. When we got to my grandparent’s, my grandpa came out of the house and took one look at the smashed car sitting on the tow truck and said, “Well, I guess you are not going to Colorado.” We got our belongings out of the car and into the house and then drove to the repair shop.The damages were estimated to be around $7,000 which was pretty much what we had paid, but since it was worth more than double that the insurance covered it, and we would only be accountable for the $500 deductible (and the monthly premium increase, of course-ugh!). The worst news? The car would take a month to fix and we had to get back to Colorado, and needed the car to move back to Utah in less than a month, because Ben was being promoted to a manager position and transferred back home (which was really good news), but getting there was going to be a headache now.
When we all finally got back to my grandparent’s, again, we went inside and all I wanted to do was sleep, but there was still so much to figure out. How would we get back? We were not 25 yet, so renting a car would be way too expensive. Ben needed to be back to work ASAP so we could pay bills, especially since we had a nice, new $500 bill coming up, and we were pretty stuck and stressed out. My brother Casey came and was our delegated chauffer for the time being. He even took us to Brigham and back for a much-needed chiropractor visit. The best part about Casey, besides his helpfulness and willingness, was his amazing and much-needed humor. Grandma, Ben, Casey and I even went shopping for comfort food and had a pretty fun time goofing off in Wal-mart together. I was very grateful to have all my best of friends with me. The four of us have always been very close. We came home and gave in to the boys choice of movie-Twister, but they fell asleep 15 minutes in (go figure), so Grandma and I enjoyed it just the two of us.
Goofing off with Ronald was probably the highlight of the trip! I think Ben was worried that Ronald and I were really beginning to hit it off, so he had to show off his extremely attractive Ronald impersonation, but in the end, I think Ronald hit it off with Grandma best.
It felt so good to smile and laugh!
As luck would have it, we received the best of news! Ben’s boss Trent’s wife, Janae, was in Utah for business (since they too were being transferred back to Utah), and was heading back to Colorado and offered us a ride-just 2 days after the accident! This news even inspired me to get ready for the first time in days, so Ben decided to document pretty much the entire process. Then we laughed about the “skunk orange” as we called it and I sang-because that is what I do to feel better.
Trent and Janae also let us pack our stuff into their moving truck and move back with them, and our car was done two days after we got back, so it all worked out! The hardest part was not having a car for a month, and with my work being an hour and a half, really scary Trax ride (there had been two shootings at the Mall’s stop in just the past month) ,I always got to work frazzled and with a headache, and cam home exhausted because it made my work day 2 hours longer than usual with the commute. Ben had it a bit easier, since he had a work truck. I was SO grateful when his company bent the rules so he would be allowed to pick me up and take me home in the truck (usually anyone other than employees are not even allowed to sit in it). As hard as these trials were, I could not help cherishing and being grateful for the Lord’s hand in our life-guiding and protecting us, and providing us with answers to so many problems. I would have to say the blessings far outweighed the trials, and I grew so much in my faith because of that knowledge.
