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So....I am writing from somewhere in Pennsylvania from an Amtrak train. I know, you're thinking...Shouldn't this be a NYC post, written from NYC? Why the heck are they in Pennsylvania? Well.....let me tell you a little story of Expectation and Reality and Taking Finals.
Expectation:
Scott had to travel back to NKU to take his exams. He scheduled everything a week out, it was all good to go. His flight would leave Newark at 5am, he had his car scheduled, he would arrive in Cincinnati before lunch, take his exams, take our old green car (which is still sitting at our old apartment) to a friend's apartment for the time being, spend the night in a hotel, catch an early flight back to New York and be back at work by noon. Sounds perfectly intense and fast paced, right? Well...Things didn't go as planned.
Reality:
It was 10:30pm on Sunday night. We were turning out the light, nervous about the next 24 hours, praying they might go well, but excited to put this semester behind us. Scott got an automated call from his airline which told him that his connecting flight from Charlotte to Cincinnati was cancelled due to weather. This really seemed to be the last straw. Pretty much NOTHING has worked right since we've moved, (including our internet being cancelled 24 hours after being installed after waiting a week and a half...but, that's a different headache all together.) Scott spent the next hour on the phone with Expedia trying to sort through it. Long story short, the only way to get there by plane was to cancel his ENTIRE Expedia reservation and rebook flights for over twice as much as we originally spent. Money we just didn't have. As Scott paced the room running his fingers through his hair, we both looked at each other and being the young crazies we are, we decided to drive it. If we left right then and there, at 11:30pm, we would get to Cincinnati with about 2 hours to spare. Weather.com said there was a wintery mix coming up through NJ and PA, just like what we were experiencing in New York, which pretty much consisted of wet snow and a little slush. It only was in the first leg of our journey so it seemed that if we took it easy, everything would be fine, once we hit Pittsburg, we would be good to go. I threw a few clothes into a bag, fed the cats and kissed them goodbye and we headed off. Needless to say, we weren't too happy with the situation, but we made the best of it. For 4 hours, we cruised along singing show tunes and talking about life. It had been sleeting/raining the entire time we were driving, so we had been taking it pretty easy. Being cautious of bridges and any ice patches that might arise if the temperature dropped. It was a little after 3am, we had just passed Harrisburg, PA. We were making good time, (considering our last trip to NYC). We had been sipping our (Crappy) Dunkin Donuts Coffee and making sure that we were staying alert.
We drive over an overpass and all of the sudden, we both feel the back tires completely lose traction. Then we were turning and sliding directly into the retaining wall. I just start screaming, I completely lost it, (especially having JUST been in a car wreck 2 month earlier, I couldn't believe this was happening again!), all the while, Scott is staying cool, calm and collected. He tries to maneuver the car to miss it and straighten, but all hope is lost, in an instant we SLAM into the wall, bounce off of it slide across the road while making a 360 degree turn, we end up stopped in the right lane facing the correct way. I feel that my hands are completely wet, and for a second I think it's blood. I start to panic. Scott turns the light on and my frantic eyes fall upon an entire car completely covered in coffee. It was in my hair, on our clothes, ceiling, steering wheel, everywhere. We get out of the car to inspect the damage. well, let me rephrase, Scott gets out of the car to check the damage, while I start aimlessly walking around in the snow completely freaking out. I looked like a crazy woman, drenched in coffee, my hair all in my face, and then I see the semi trucks pass and I start freaking out that we need to get back in the car and get off the road. When it comes to situations like this, I am 'worst case scenario Lauren' I start imagining other cars sliding on the bridge and running us over. (It wasn't a pretty site.) We jump in the car, while I'm pretty much hysterical, the jeep was so jacked up, we ended up barely driving down the entrance ramp onto a divided road, so we just drove the wrong way for a minute and pulled into the most wonderful site I have seen: 'The Quality Inn'! We bought a room and took our stuff in. It was a miracle we even made it down. The back wheel wasn't even straight anymore and was rubbing up agains the wheel well, and the front tire was going flat fast.
The State Highway Patrol came and did a report and were kind enough to drive us to the hospital. Scott had hit his head in 2 places and thought it would be good to get checked out, in case of a concussion. On our way to the hospital, we passed another wreck, and the cops had to stop and wait for another unit to get there (such a weird experience). Thankfully, the ER only took maybe an hour. We caught a cabbie back to our room, called AAA, they came and towed our car to a collision center about a mile away. (Confession: I almost cried when they hauled off the Jeep. It might be totaled and I just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet). After squaring everything away with insurance, calling the Dean, we crashed for a few hours. It was so wonderful to finally sleep, even with crunchy coffee hair.
After weighing our options for travel, we decided we were in no condition to drive. I clearly have whiplash AGAIN, and we weren't sure if Scott had a concussion. So, we decided on Amtrak. I'll be honest, this was probably the shining light in this mess. The thought of taking the train back to NYC, seemed super cool (and pretty cheap!).
Oh, let me tell you about our cabbie...so, he shows up in a yellow cab, we get in and lay our eyes on this giant hick who clearly doesn't bathe, he was so talkative and foulmouthed, he drove like a mad man, and would be drinking out of his Gallon of water while entering the snowy highway! Oh, and the back of his seats have cigarette burns in the leather. I felt like we were in a movie, he was crazy.
The train was a great experience. Much like a plane, but there's no assigned seating, no security and it's like twice as big. The seats recline, and we had plenty of leg room. Thankfully the train dropped us right off at Penn Station in midtown and we could directly hop a 1 line back home within a few minutes.
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| This guy was a treasure. |
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| Finally got the Coffee out of my hair! |
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| Amtrak Train Station |
This has been one of the most trying nights of our lives. This year has been tough. But, even through all of this, we have definitely tried to focus on our blessings. God has really blessed us, this night could have been SO much worse. The State Troopers said that there had been a 50 car pile up with fatalities further up the Turnpike. I was so heartbroken to hear that, and thankful, thinking that maybe this wreck kept us from being in the pile up. who knows.
Most of the reason I'm writing all of this on my blog is so I won't forget it. Times like these are what mold us into the people we are, they make us stronger. God puts us into these situations to test us, to grow us. He loves his Children and that doesn't always mean keeping us from bad experiences. I prayed a lot last night. I thanked him over and over that it wasn't worse. I thanked him that we happened to wreck right next to an exit with a hotel. We couldn't have gotten through this night without his hand of protection and his guidance. Thankfully We are back home safe, by his grace, and his grace alone.
Lauren Marie
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