News stations name the holidays the worst time of the year to travel, and having just been through it, I would have to agree. Two days before my flight was scheduled to leave for Kansas, I had an epiphany. Why don’t I drive down with my boyfriend, who is preparing to go tomorrow, and I won’t have to deal with delayed flights, canceled flights or being stranded at O’Hare on Christmas Eve?
He loved the idea, so all I had to do was call the airline and do a quick fix with my ticket – cancel the first leg, but still keep the return. Not so easy. After several phone calls and being offered awful alternatives (rebook as a one-way for another $700), an agent finally heard our plea and helped us out. Tuesday afternoon, we were on our way.
Driving through snowstorms is just as bad as flying in them. The first five hours were fine until we reached Ohio. Our plan? Let’s keep driving until we get sleepy because the roads are only going to get worse as the night goes on.
That’s when we pushed our luck.
One hundred miles outside of Columbus, we were driving on roads completely covered in ice. An ambulance in front of us drove 15 miles per hour as we followed behind, grateful to think it was there to remind all drivers to take it slow. It was actually headed to an accident up the road on I-90, one of many we witnessed throughout our journey, and we soon realized why firsthand.
As my boyfriend prepared to steer the car, we lost control, fishtailed and did a 180 degree turn before hitting the guardrail – first, the front right side, then the back. The middle was spared. We both were fine. Thankfully, there were no other cars or tractor-trailers on the road at the time. The car was still driveable so we made it to the nearest exit and pulled off the road for the night.
For sure, the accident was a scare and I can’t help but think of the “what ifs.”
It was reported that 18 people lost their lives this holiday due to highway travel. I thank God we made it to our destination safely, and feel for those families who had to learn the tragedy of their loved ones.
What lesson did I learn? I never like to push it on the road in bad weather, so my lesson would be to speak up sooner when I feel it’s time to pullover.
It took us 24 hours to get to Wichita – we arrived after midnight, Wednesday morning. As for flying, I would have arrived an hour later than scheduled – no cancellations, only one delay – a total of about five hours travel time.
If I had to do it all over again, though, I still would have chosen to drive with Tim. He told me, if he were alone, he would’ve most likely kept driving, even after the “warning.” I pray it doesn’t take another lesson for him to learn.
