2 Arizonans + Icy Roads = Not Good (Warning: LOTS of pictures)

"This is the story of how I died." (Name that movie!!!)

Well, almost died.

Kinda.

Actually, neither one of us sustained any injuries. The car?...well....

Let's just say it could have been A LOT worse, and we've got some seriously awesome guardian angels.

It all started early the morning of Thursday, October 6th. Remember how I said I was going home for the weekend for my friend's wedding? Yeah, well, she got married on Friday, so we drove down Thursday. We left around 9:45 in the morning, hoping to get into Mesa around 7 pm Mesa time, switching off drivers every hour or so as needed.

But of course that didn't happen.

We packed up the car in icy-cold, drizzly rain. But driving through rain is not a problem. We can handle that. So we said a quick prayer for safety and set off. Well, 10 minutes outside of Provo, the rain turned to sleet. I pointed this out to Maddy, who was driving, and advised her to be careful. She's fresh from Mesa this year and has never driven in anything more than rain. I only have minimal experience. But she was careful, and we continued on our way.

Meanwhile, outside became more and more foggy and grey; visibility was really bad. In another 20 minutes, the sleet became snow, and once again, I pointed this out to Maddy, and advised her to be careful of ice on the road.

M: "Can you see ice?"

K: "Not if it's black ice...."

M: pause...."Well...what do I do if we hit ice?"

K: "If we hit ice and start to spin, turn the wheel in the opposite direction you instinctively want to go. Steer into the spin."

M: "...ok...?"

So we drove on through the blizzard, which is what it had pretty much turned into. I updated my mom, and she suggested I use my phone to google "safety tips for driving in the snow" and read them to Maddy. So I did.

1. Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
                                                                                                                 Maddy followed. Check.
2. Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.

3. Turn on your lights to.................................

M: "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And that's all I remember. No, I didn't black out. I think my brain has just blocked it out. All I recall is the jerking and centrifugal motion of spinning. Maddy only remembers 3 moments in time that are completely disconnected from each other: 1.) Hitting the ice, 2.) Facing backwards towards oncoming traffic, and 3.) jerking to a stop in the snow perpendicular to the road.

You can see the road about 15 ft. up to the right. We'd spun 180 degrees counter-clockwise, so we were facing oncoming traffic, sliding backwards off the road until we hit deep mud.

Awesome, right?

So we jerk to a stop, and sit in silence for a second as the cars pass in front of us. If they'd have been any closer behind us, well...that would NOT have been good. Maddy almost freaked out. I'm pretty sure she felt like crying, but I think I shocked her into not freaking out by talking before she could.

K: "Ok...ok....ok....Look. We're ok. You're ok. The car's ok. Good job. You handled that really well."

After I took the picture and Maddy saw it, she gasped, "You're SMILING?!?!?! Why are you smiling?!"
She was a bit incredulous. :)

I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy. Having parents who can keep their heads when you've got blood oozing down your face and matting your hair and blurring your vision can really be awesome training. I'm glad it's rubbed off on me. I don't often freak out. Thank goodness.

Almost immediately, an old couple pulled over and called out to us. I got out of the car and trudged through the 6 inches of snow in my battered Converse to their car. I assured them we were ok, but that we were stuck in the mud. They offered to stop in Nephi, a mile south of where we were stuck, and get us a tow truck. Thank goodness for nice old people! So I gave them my phone number, and they drove off.

Meanwhile, I started digging the mud and snow away from the tires. I was hoping I could pack the mud down and clear it away enough to save us some cash with the tow truck, but that was some SOGGY mud. I even searched for rocks (my fingers were almost BLEEDING. keep in mind, we're doing all this in a blizzard.) to shove under the tires, but they only sank further into the mud. It was deep, soggy, stuff I tell ya what.





So then we just sat in the car with the heater. By this point, we were both wet and muddy with soaking shoes. Oh joy. A police man also stopped to check on us long enough to make sure we were ok and being helped. Also, I decided to take pictures and document the whole experience.

After a bit, the tow company called to verify our position and to let us know they were on their way. When I asked for an estimate, they said $60. Not too bad. So a super nice old guy came and worked in the blizzard to hook us up and haul us out. Once we were back up on the shoulder, he said, "So that'll be $60." He didn't have any sort of paper work and was waiting expectantly. "Uh...do you only take cash?" I asked hesitating. He nodded. "Well they failed to mention that on the phone..." I muttered. Luckily, between the two of us, Maddy and I were able to scrounge together $56, and he just took that, completely depleting our cash supply. Gee, thanks. As he finished recoiling chains, we cautiously pulled back onto the road.

A mile later, we pulled into a gas station in Nephi so Maddy could top off on gas and so I could replenish our cash supply. When I walked out of store back to the car, Maddy pointed at the rear passenger-side door and said, "Did you notice that?" I looked. The whole door was dented in under the window and the paint was peeled in two patches. That was really weird, since neither of us remember hitting anything. But the door could still open and close just fine, so we figured we were good to go. Before pulling out, I dug more mud and weeds from under the frame of the car and took the drivers seat.

I drove for the next 3 hours or so to Panguitch. We sat in silence most of the way. I don't want to go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that I was praying and praying HARD. Kind of a literal application of Carrie Underwood's Jesus, Take the Wheel. Essentially, I said, "Heavenly Father, every thought I have that has to do with making a decision while I'm driving, I'm attributing to you. Ready, set, go." Also, we'd said another prayer before we got started again, and Maddy asked for no more encounters with ice on the roads instead of just safety. I'd forgotten  you could be that specific in prayers. But guess what. IT WORKED! I drove, and it was like I could see the ice on the road. I knew exactly where to change lanes or hug the shoulder or slow down. It was probably one of the most...spiritually in tune...three hours of my life. Gradually, visibility increased and conditions cleared.

Arizona sunset as we pulled into Flagstaff. HOME!!!

We only drove through rain and snow twice after that, and by the time we pulled into Panguitch and switched drivers again, it was bright and sunny. PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED! The rest of the trip was uneventful, minus the cows standing in the road and the speeding ticket acquired coming out of Panguitch, and we pulled into Mesa a little before 9 P.M. (We won't go into how my family wasn't even home, and I was locked out...).

stupid stupid cows.... We tell people the dent in the door is from them.

So that was our adventure. I'll post about the actual trip later. And our return drive on Sunday went perfectly (I may or may not have hit 102 mph...........shhhhhh.) ;)

Hooray for guardian angels.