Tuesday, March 28, 2023

I Cheated Death On This Day

You should be thankful you are alive every single day.  On this day in particular, I'm sure I cheated death and I don't know why, other than a Godly hand reached down and pushed a car off the road.  

It started off nicely enough, except the 10-15 mph winds were a pain in the butt the first 3 hours.  It pushed me right and left making for jaw clenching and a death grip on my steering wheel.  I WAS able to partake of a cookie or two that Patsy offered as a going away present.  I think it gave me strength for what was to come.  I'm also sure these came from Bill's stash, so thank you both for the yummy snacks.

They lasted all the way to Indio.  Worse than the side wind was the head winds that kept my poor truck working itself to death trying to keep up the pace.  I kept having to turn the cruise control off and watch the speedometer like a hawk to keep from getting run over.

At long last with lots of mountaintop snow, we entered Indio.  I kept looking for a place to stop and give the kids a rest, but it was not to be found.
 

Of course it was much prettier in person than these pictures.  With the wind, I wasn't about to take my hands off the wheel for picture taking, so this is it.


Little did I know what was in store.  I turned off on Highway 147 and headed to Yucca Valley and the turnoff to Barstow and Highway 58 to Bakersfield.

There I was, about halfway along the two lane road before my turnoff.  It looked like this drawing.  A two lane double yellow line on a corner.  I'm going 55 mph, followed by a tractor trailer rig a bit behind me.

I saw the black car (orange in this picture) pull out into my lane to pass the two vehicles in front of it.  WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  I'M RIGHT HERE!!!!  I barely had time to hit the brakes before saying "I'm DEAD".  I couldn't go left because of the two cars.  I couldn't go right because these roads are very narrow with deep sand shoulders.  I'm going 55 mph!!!  I looked down to see 50 mph and knew the trailer was going to go straight through my truck, killing us all.

The entire thing took less than two seconds, so there was nothing to do but watch.  To my amazement, in literally one second when the car was less than 30 feet in front of me, it swerved to my right.  I braced for impact.  He missed my truck.  I braced for impact on the trailer.  He missed my trailer.  I don't know how that could possibly be since the shoulder isn't as wide as one lane.

I lost sight of him as he went by the right side of my trailer.  I was still slowing down when I remembered the big truck behind me.  I don't know if he hit the truck or if he hit one or both of those two cars he was trying to pass, but when he overcorrected (as I looked in my left mirror) there was a huge explosion of sand and dirt into the air.  


I don't know how he possibly missed me.  I hit my hazard lights and kept going slow while calling 911.  The line was busy.  No kidding, it took six tries to get someone on the phone.  Send an ambulance ... it's a really bad wreck.  I told the dispatcher I couldn't find a place to pull over and he said to just continue on my way.  He would send help.  He took my info and said someone may call me at some point to be a witness.  I need a drink ... a BIG drink!!!  

I felt guilty for driving on, but I did what I was told.  Five minutes later as I'm still on the same highway, the ambulance and two big fire trucks went by, lights flashing.  I was the luckiest person in the world on this day.


I drove another 15 miles to the stop sign before pulling over on Barstow Road to let Cooper out.  He was seat belted in so he didn't fall, but I rather imagine Jonathan hit the floor of his cage.  He's fine now and talking as I type.


Definitely not something I ever want to repeat.  Obviously the guy is an idiot, but I hope he survived, if only because he saved my life by jerking the wheel to the left and missing my truck and trailer.

From there I was on to Barstow for fuel at $4.99 a gallon.  I didn't care one bit.  I finally arrived in Bakersfield and breathed a big sigh of relief.  Pizza helped.

I'm off really early this morning trying to beat the storm headed my way.  Hopefully it's a day full of NO excitement at all!!



37 comments:

  1. Wow the Good Lord was watching over you Nancy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes he was. I'm blessed for sure.

      Delete
  2. So glad you are okay. Life can change in an instant. I tried looking it up on the internet but could not find anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll probably have to call Yucca Valley and see if they have any info.

      Delete
  3. Oh my goodness! You were certainly in the hands of the good Lord! No matter how careful we are, they're are always those on the roads who can change our lives. So happy you are safe. πŸ’—

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So very true. You just never know what can happen when you are happily driving along.

      Delete
  4. Very grateful that you are ok, very scary for sure. Safe travels today. πŸ™

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know it happened so fast I really didn't have time to be scared.

      Delete
  5. Nancy God was watching over you.
    Prayers continue as you make your way home.
    Be safe!
    Frances:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Frances ... I'm safe at home now!

      Delete
  6. So glad you are okay! With lots of driving miles, there is always a chance someone will be crazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess I've been lucky all these years.

      Delete
  7. So frightening ! How you managed to avoid the impact and terrible possibilities is a true miracle. You even managed to call for help afterward. Truly amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It took a couple minutes to get my head straight, that's for sure, but glad I thought to call for help.

      Delete
  8. My goodness, that was scarey and close. As it turned out you made rmthe correct decision and he did too. All other choices would have been disastrous. Hope all goes well the remainder of the trip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know he was an idiot, but thank goodness he ran off the road. Would have been pretty messy otherwise.

      Delete
  9. I wouldn't feel guilty about motoring on at all all. Somebody does something stupid like that, endangering others, they made the play, and they deserve what they get. The number of stupid people has increased exponentially over the last few years, and all of them seem to find their drivers license in a cereal box, if they even have one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I have to agree with that. There's just too many "race car drivers" on the highways.

      Delete
  10. Wow...as Jim said life can change in an instant. We thank you Lord for keeping Nancy, the equipment the babies safe. May God's angels continue to watch over you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Elva!!! I was blessed and I know it!!

      Delete
  11. Thank God you are ok, the doggie is ok, and Mr. Birdie is ok too!!!! Things like that are moments in time...Hoping "HE" always gives you safe travels...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm home now Dave ... you guys be very careful on your trip. There are crazies out there.

      Delete
  12. You had a guardian angel looking over you. Hopefully that reckles driver had one too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That I did Marlene ... that I did.

      Delete
  13. It's amazing how many bad drivers are on the road these days! So glad you are all safe! Hoping your ride today is uneventful! Did you happen to read "Where's Eldo?" Scary and costly event for them :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to admit, even the truck drivers are lacking in skills nowadays. They seem to be all over the road and don't care if they hit someone.

      Delete
  14. Good to hear you got through that. Does it seem to you that people have somehow gone wanker during the covid lockdown, or something like that. It seems to me that something has changed besides us just getting older. :O) Or could it be that the younger generations are just kicking in, which mostly have a different up bringing than us older folk?
    Bobseyes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think it's us ... I think it's the video game generation that "kills it" on their TV, then comes out on the road and drives the same way. There are no consequences any more for anything ... just a slap on the hand ..... and never a cop in sight to slow them down.

      Delete
  15. So glad that turned out good (but hair raising) for you. Thank the good Lord for that. Hope the rest of your journey is less stressful. Blessing for safe travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was Becky ... I'm home now and happy to be sitting on my couch!

      Delete
  16. Glad you are Safe and hopefully the other driver not too badly injured.
    Keep being Safe and Enjoy the Pizza.

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope so too, but that explosion of sand and dirt with a car rolling through it didn't look good at all.

      Delete
  17. Thank goodness you, Cooper, and Jonathan are all okay. You certainly had God's Angels watching over you. Tom and I hope the rest of your drive is totally boring. Take care and safe travels. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems nowadays it's hard to have a boring driving day!! There's just too much to watch out for with crazy drivers.

      Delete
  18. It was the Grace and Mercy of GodπŸ™ I’m sure
    we have all benefitted from it in our lives.πŸ™Œ
    Thankful you are all ok.πŸ’›
    Linda a.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree Linda .... I must still be here for a good reason!!

      Delete
  19. To Dave Burdick ..... your blog won't let me comment. It says I have to log in to Google ... but I'm already logged in to Google.

    ReplyDelete