My Christmas

This past Christmas Melissa and I drove home for the holiday. We looked for plane tickets back in May… then in July… and again in October but never found any below $400. Flying home is never really an option for us because the closest airport is so small. Melissa was really worried about the trip. She researched the weather in the areas we would be in both to Washington and coming back from Washington. We left December 20th planning for a long slow drive ahead of us. The roads were actually pretty clear and we made it home to Washington in 11 hours.

The weather in Zillah continued to get worse snowing almost every day we were there. Actually I don’t think I even stepped outside for 3 days. I went out to Melissa’s car to get out parents Christmas gift and the fresh air hit me like a blow to the stomach. Haha, I actually laughed out loud on the way to the car. The day after Christmas the snow let up in Zillah but Melissa’s research showed that our trip was going to be a double edged sword. No matter what day we left there was going to be storms along the way.

We decided to leave a day early to avoid some freezing rain predicted to come on Sunday. Our trip was slow but the roads were pretty clear. Our biggest worry was traveling through the Blue Mountains located between Baker City and La Grande, OR. The Blues seemed to be better than we expected. We flew right through them although the visibility started to become less and less clear.

As we approached La Grande there was a sign that said the freeway was closed. We and about 300 other cars pulled over into a gas station until they opened the roads again. We sat at the gas station for 5 hours. As you can tell we tried to make the most of it =)

There was no news about the conditions of the road so we decided to get a hotel and try again in the morning. It was nice to get out of the car and get warmed up. The next morning we left pretty early with a goal to make it back to Salt Lake by 3:00 pm.

The roads were… bearable. It was a really slow ride but we were making good time. We were about 15 minutes from Ontario, OR when it all happened… We were driving along side a semi-truck. He was going about 30 mph and us about 40 mph. I was looking down at the time but heard Melissa say, “Oh no!” (She had just hit black ice.) The car started to fish tail and Melissa lost control.

At this point I think the semi-truck started to slow down because miraculously we did not hit him. The car started to spin into the next lane. At one point I remember looking at the semi head on. That didn’t last for long though because the car slid into an embankment of snow where we ended up flipping one time.

Thankfully nothing happened. We were all fine. So there we are hanging there upside down. My initial thought was, “That was a soft landing.” After assessing myself I undid my seat belt… and crashed to the ground, which was really the windshield but you know what I mean. Soon after Melissa undid her seat belt too. We both tried our doors and they wouldn’t budge. This is when I started to panic because there was no one anyone would know we were inside there just by passing by. (P.S. The semi-truck didn’t stop)

At this point I was determined to get my door open. I managed to get it open a little but not enough to even get my arm out. I started digging like mad getting all kinds of snow into the car. All the sudden there was a man at my door asking if we were alright. I answered yes and told him there were three of us in the car. My little sister Alicia was in the back passenger seat. He dug out my door and it finally opened. Melissa and I crawled out but Alicia was pretty stuck. Finally the men opened Alicia’s door and freed her. She was not wearing any shoes so the man threw he pillow on the ground and told her to stand on it. (She wasn’t so happy about that.)

Then after assuring us they called 911 everyone left. At the time I didn’t think it was that big of a deal but honestly no one could stay while we wait for the police officer. There we are standing on the side of the road without coats and Alicia with no shoes and only 1 sock. I am sure it was a sight to see. A young couple in a SUV pulled over and told us to get in to stay warm. They sat and waited with us for over an hour while we waiting for the police officer. After getting our statements he told us the car wouldn’t be going anywhere soon so he released us.

The rest of the day we spent with strangers on our journey home. The couple in the SUV took us to Boise, Idaho where a friends parent’s took us in, fed us, warmed us up and then drove us to Bliss, Idaho where our brother and his wife picked us up and drove us the rest of the way home…. ahhh, now that was exhausting. Even to tell. Melissa and I were glad to be home. We truly had angels watching over us that morning.

This story could be way worse, but its not and all three of us were just grateful to be home. The insurance company ended up totaling the car which in the end is awesome. There is no way Melissa would ever get that much money for her car any other way. If you want to see what car she ended up choosing she has posted pictures on her blog. (she is listed as “Mel to the issa” on my blog list)

Thank you to all of you who help us in any way these last couple weeks. I am truly grateful for my friends and family who make things like this easier.