Angels Watching Over Her - More Grateful This Thanksgiving...

I had a shaking experience this week. I got a call from Princess Four saying "I "drifted" off the road."

In my head, I am thinking, she slowly went off the road not paying attention. I am freaked out as she is talking really fast and I am worried as the roads have been bad and she was taking a long trip to a portion of the state where she has never driven before in a state car.

All sorts of things go through my head before she can get the words out. I know she was trying to tell me she was "ok" but I know she was in shock still and I didn't really understand what she was telling me. I heard words like, "ice, cliff, snow up to my window, can't get out of the car,"

I get into a bit of a panic as she said they were stuck as she couldn't get her door open. She hit ice and the car "drifted" off the road."

She called the leader of the Ambassador group but they are in a bit of transition as they hired a new person this week and she is in training and they also have a new boss this year... They then called the emergency number posted in the vehicle and the person they reached said they were no longer the contracted emergency person for that car.

Then, she was told that the car had been in a previous accident and hadn't been checked out before she took the car.

So it went for hours. She called me at 2:30ish to report the accident. I finally got most of the story after she had made all the calls they could to people in the state asking what to do. She hit a patch of ice and the car started sliding on this curve. On one side of the road was a cliff. On the other side of the road was a huge snow pile. She said she went towards the snow pile side and ended up "in" the snow pile. The car was at a tilt and she said she could just reach out of her window and touch snow.

She couldn't get out of the car on her side and the other side was up in the air some but she said that over all the hours she was there, there were only about 15 cars that passed and each one stopped or tried to but some couldn't get off the road with the ice and some that tried to stop were almost hit by others coming up.

Several trucks stopped and dug out the back of the car trying to find a place to tow her out but none could dig deep enough as the car was wedged in fairly good and the snow under it was packed that they spent quite some time and not getting very far.

They made sure that the tail pipe was clear and told the girls to keep the heat on in the car if they could.

Since the car was tilted and touching the snow, it did get cold but the wind was so strong outside (as you can see by her hair in this picture) that they didn't want to be out and also there was no where to go except be in snow.

Thank heavens she had enough gas to keep the heat on.  They didn't have food but a few little snacks. However, the biggest issue was the bathroom.....

I guess the girl with her needed to go and climbed out thinking she could maybe just go but was worried that everyone would see the yellow snow and it was cold and they had no paper... Princess Four said she hadn't needed to go but as the hours went on, it got worse and worse.

By the time the police, tow truck and their adviser showed up, she was out of her mind needing to "go."

She said the police officer was talking to her and she was dancing so much she couldn't tell me one thing he said. She asked her adviser how close the nearest town was and he said "15 minutes."

I asked her "When the tow truck pulled the car, out if she could see if there was any damage to the car?" and she said, "Mom, I didn't look, all I could do was think about where I was going to "go.""

She said she knows there was something left on the ground that the had to pick up so I am praying it was just the heat shield or something but they didn't give her a ticket that I know of and others were having issues with the ice on that portion of road so I am hoping to call and find out more today.

She hadn't ever really had a chance to talk with her new "boss" and she said she got in his car and passed a sign she remembered from the trip there and KNEW that the town was more than 15 minutes away so she asked this new "boss" to pull over on these cliffy, steep mountain roads with not much of a shoulder so she could "relieve" herself with a napkin he had in the car.

Now Princess Four will probably have some kind words to say to me about posting this personal information but now, she will have a GREAT "most embarrassing" moment story to share. She said she didn't care who saw her at that moment as she would have been more embarrassed wetting the car!

I shared that at the end of the year ambassador dinner, (see a post here about those) they will probably give her "the yellow snow" award.

I don't know that she will ever live it down but I have to share how positive and grateful she was.

She kept saying, "I am so garteful that we didn't drift off the other side were there is a cliff." If they had, noone would probably have known they were down at the bottom anyway on that deserted and icy road.

She said, "We had such a beautiful view. to look at and we got to see a beautiful sunset."

She said that since her new "boss" came to pick them up, she had a chance to get to know him better asking about his family and history before taking this job.

She said she was grateful that she had a friend with her as she was scheduled to go alone and this friend said she would go with her for the visit.

She said she was grateful they had heat, gas, people that stopped over and over and she told me of one girl that just took a flying leap in the snow to ask if they were alright.

She was grateful for the people over and over that stopped and gave them advice and offered them waters etc.

She was grateful for the state insurance. She was grateful for the Ambassador leaders who kept calling and checking on them and finally got a tow truck and police there to get them out of the snow bank.

She said in many ways, she felt it was "meant to be." She learned about driving in snow and ice. She learned what a good friend she has. She learned that she can trust her advisers to "take care" of her. She learned more about her new advisers and learned that perhaps when traveling in car that isn't your own, take some provisions along for "just in case" scenerios.

I am thinking; water bottles, a box of tissues (or at least a small bag in your purse,) snacks, a full tank of gas and a blanket.

   
She called me about four hours later telling me that the new boss was there to pick them up and that the tow truck finall  arrived and were pulling out the car. She said because she hit a reflector pole on the way off the road, that they had to fill out a police report as they would have to pay for the pole.

I am VERY grateful that was the only issue. I don't know if you can see the drop off in the picture behind them with the mountains in the distance but I am grateful that she really didn't "drift" off the road. I explained that "drifting" is usually the drivers fault and that hitting ice and sliding isn't the same as "driffting."

We say a prayer whenever we leave on a long drive or trip for safety in our travels and ask a blessing on the car and the drivers.... I am grateful for the guardian angels that were working overtime for Princess Four this week of Thanksgiving. We could have had a VERY different Thanksgiving this year. I give gratitude for healthy and happy children and grand-children this Holiday Season.