Rollercoaster Road

Yesterday I had a scary driving experience. It was CRAZY! I had made arrangements to purchase a table from a couple who lived in a neighboring city about 45 minutes north of us. My friend Tiff, lent me her van, so that I could bring the table and chairs home in one trip...THANK GOODNESS! The hubby stayed home with the kiddos and I headed on my drive. It's funny, I almost wore flip flops to the couple's home, but since it was a bit rainy and I figured perhaps they had a huge home on a dirt lot, I wore boots instead. That was definitely the right choice. As I headed on my drive, I noticed about 15 minutes north of us, there was snow on the ground, from perhaps a recent snow storm. I found this to be crazy, since we had such nice weather where we live all week long...and I had only driven for 15 minutes. Then as I turned onto one of the two lane highways to reach my destination, I was first awed by how beautiful it was. The homes seemed secluded among tons of trees covered in snow, it was breathtaking. I began to think that perhaps if hubby and I stay out here for a long time, it would be nice to live in this city.

It started snowing a tad harder and I soon realized, after the van began to slide, that the road was very icy. So I suddenly switched to focused driver mode and didn't even care anymore how beautiful the tree lined streets were. Then I saw some flashing lights and as I slowly approached, I saw a car that had crashed into the guardrail. The front end looked horrible. The hood was in the windshield. About another mile down the road, I saw more flashing lights and a truck completely flipped over. I was now a tad scared. I turned onto the next stretch of highway, another two lane one, and there were more flashing lights and another accident. I then saw a sign telling me to slow down and that I was approaching roller coaster road. My heart started pounding. I was terrified. And it didn't help that a mile later there was yet another accident.
On the 60 mph highway, I think I was driving 20, if that. I made it to the couple's house. Upon seeing the table, I wasn't even that happy with it. But I risked my life to get it, so I bought it. I was telling the husband about the road conditions, and he proceeded to tell me about a time he witnessed, on a different highway, 5 cars slide off the road and roll over several times. That was not the story to tell terrified little me.

Driving back home, I was scared. I made it safely the first time, but now I had to do it again. And the lanes were so narrow, so I not only had to worry about my driving, but I had to worry about others sliding into me. I had only been at the couple's house for maybe 10 minutes. But when I headed back out onto the stretch of highway, there were two more new accidents, both rollovers. Firemen were out on the streets directing traffic. I couldn't believe how many accidents had taken place on about a 7 mile stretch of road. The snow was coming down, the window was very fogged up and the defroster was taking a while to kick in. I began to cry and I began to pray for God to keep me safe...to bring me home safely and to keep all the cars around me safe.

And I made it home. Originally, I was going to get the table and make some other trips before going home to unload the van. But once I hit the road that would lead me home, all I wanted to do was walk into my house and hug my hubby. I pulled into our driveway and as soon as I walked through my front door I told my hubby that I wanted a hug. He didn't understand why I was telling him that the drive was so scary. At our house it was lightly raining.

I let him know that when I first turned onto the highway, I was envisioning our future home there. But that I have now decided that I like where we live.

I am so thankful that God kept me safe on my drive. And I hope to never experience anything like that again.