Tonight was awful. I headed down to Provo this afternoon to run a few errands and meet up with Scott for dinner. After we had accomplished everything we needed to, we started to head back up the canyon (in separate cars) and first hit some heavy rain which quickly turned into a snow storm which we were not expecting. When we started, there were no restrictions on the roads so we figured we were alright. With each mile it got progressively worse and I was starting to experience some major anxiety. I hate driving in the snow, especially at night! At one point I couldn't see the lines on the road at all, no tracks or any other cars around. I felt like I was driving completely blind and at some point I thought I hit a small pothole. I just stopped and started to cry. I know that wasn't too smart, but I was TERRIFIED of driving off the road (because there are many spots in the canyon that don't have rails). I had no clue where I was! I called Scott and he urged me to keep going because it was more dangerous to just sit there. By this time Abbie has become upset and is screaming in the back seat and Caden is screaming at Abbie to be quiet. Nice and super good for my nerves!
My car was "slipping" all over the place which I thought was so weird because I have driven in snow before and although it is never pleasant I usually felt more in control than I did tonight. It has got to be one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced and the entire time all I can think about is my responsibility for the safety of my children in the car. Finally, I saw Scott pulled over up ahead. I pulled over and he told me to switch him because his car was doing just fine and his nerves could handle the crying baby. So we switched and although the ride was much more quiet, I prayed the entire way up the canyon that we would make it there safely.
Just as we pulled off the highway into Midway, Scott pulled the car off the road. I followed and when we got out, Scott told me something with my car didn't feel right. After checking things out we realized...we had a tire that had blown out! Not sure exactly when it happened (most likely halfway up the canyon when I hit the pothole) but we just couldn't believe we made it up safely with three tires (we were only going 15-20mph which I am sure helped). No wonder I couldn't control my car! We couldn't change the tire because our car is sitting on a two-lane major road pushed up against a bank of snow. It's too late to call a tow truck so it is sitting there until tomorrow morning.
Of course Scott is telling me how crappy it is if we drove on that tire most of the way up because it mostly likely damaged our rim too (which isn't good for our student budget). Meanwhile I am still crying, yes because it will cost money, yes because I am scared out of my mind, but mostly because I realize how incredibly blessed we are that we arrived safely under such conditions. I am so grateful our little family was being watched over. Our Heavenly Father truly assisted us in arriving home safely. We have been home for a little while now and I can't help but shed a few more tears as I type this thinking about how blessed we are.
And now I am headed to bed...my stomach hurts from all the anxiety (pretty sure I just got another ulcer) and I am going to be spending some much needed time on my knees tonight.
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