On Monday, February 18, I was traveling from my grandparent’s house in Cresco, Iowa, back home to Coe when I almost died! It’s a true story, and I hope it never happens again, but allow me to explain my near death experience...
I began my trip at 9:22 a.m. Monday morning. I never accelerated above 40 mph during my three and a half hour drive yesterday because Interstate 380 was covered with ice and snow. For the first 80 minutes there were hardly any other vehicles on the road. Traffic started to increase in Waterloo, and from there to Cedar Rapids, I drove a consistent 35 mph behind a caravan of cars.
Passing through a little town, there were two semis behind me; all of us were in the right lane. In the left lane, just a half mile ahead, there was a snow plow that was not visible to the semis behind me. To my immediate right there was a continuous pile of snow (much like the Great Wall of China!) and to my left, oncoming traffic.
The semi behind me was gaining on my bumper quickly; within seconds he was making his move to pass. This is when I knew he didn’t see the plow ahead in the left lane, but the semi sped up and was able to squeeze back in. While I was watching the first semi, I didn’t realize semi number two was attempting the same crazy stunt. Unfortunately the half mile between us narrowed, and the plow was now less than two blocks. Not knowing what to do, I started breaking, and the second semi started to merge back behind me in my lane. Scary enough, all three of us were having a hard time slowing; I started fishtailing as the semi behind me was nearly riding my bumper-ah!!!
With the grace of God, my car regained control and all three of us (both semis and my car) remained on the road and amazingly, without a scratch! I drove into Cedar Rapids just 15 minutes later and was glad to be off the road and alive. :)
FYI -- As of February 17, Cedar Rapids has received 54.8 inches of snow this winter season, and we now rank ninth in seasonal snowfall. I just heard more snow this afternoon…spring couldn’t be more desirable than it is right now!
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Yikes, Kristy! I didn't realize what you were doing yesterday. . . I am very glad everything's OK. And hey--you got something to write about.
One of my early blog posts was about my son getting hit by a car. He was OK, but that wasn't clear at the time. The post is Labor Day in September of 2005, if you want to check it out.
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