I Hate Alabama!

As you know, I went to Florida to visit my Mom and Dennis. I have much to report about the trip, but I want to start with the end. The return trip home...

Laurie and I get a late start leaving PCB. We drive through Florida with little trouble. All's well. Then we get into Alabama. That's when it starts going to Hell. First, an armadillo darts in front of the Jeep to show his dance moves. They are ugly creatures, aren't they? Alas, I was able to avoid hitting the little goofball. Second, here comes Peter Cottontail's son hopping into the road. Yes, I managed to not run him over as well. I told Laurie, "two for two, I'm getting lucky here". She suggested that perhaps with those words, I had just jinxed us. How right she was.

It is now about 4 am and we are traveling at about 75 - 80mph on Highway 65. We have seen so many deer on the side of the road that we are quite paranoid about hitting one. I have been driving in the fast lane to give myself a few extra seconds in case one bolts into the road. So, I am driving along when up comes a very large hill. For those of you that don't know it, I hate driving down large hills. We have traveled up the hill and are starting down the other side. I decide to get into the normal driving lane to continue down the hill. The Jeep lights are shining down the
hill not onto the bridge at the bottom.When we get to the bottom we are immediately on a bridge. Two seconds later the van in front of me careens to the right. All I see is a black thing with a little white speck by it. I assume it is a deer and prepare to veer to the right. Oh no! It's a black car that has been wrecked and a person standing in front of it waving his arms. It is taking up all the left lane and part of the right lane. I shoot to the right and miss him and his car by mere inches. I pull over to the "shoulder" of the bridge to offer him some help. Laurie is calling 911. Several other cars are coming down the hill and swerving around him in many near misses. I hear a terrible noise and look into the rear view mirror. A semi has locked his brakes and has begun to slide down the hill and jack knife. He can't stop in time. He annihilates the parked car and is headed our direction. I slap the Jeep into drive and peel out getting away from there. I pulled over again after getting away from the semi. I fear that the semi has just killed this boy. I couldn't see how he could get out of the way. As asked of us by the 911 operator, we go back to the wreck to see if there are any injuries that need an ambulance. When we get there, we see that where we had originally parked was nothing but wreckage of both the car and the semi. The driver of the car had somehow managed to get away from the semi and was unharmed other than being totally freaked out. He was quite young. The truck driver was also unharmed. When the truck jack-knifed it hit the car head-on and the the car got trapped between the cab and trailer of the truck. It looked like it was just churning it into pieces and I guess it was doing just that. The car-which was a lot larger when we first saw it - looked like a round ball. It was only about 3 feet by 2 feet. The trunk was gone as was the entire front up to the windshield. Only the seats remained and they were toast. The remaining pieces of the car were in an area about 80 feet long and the width of the two lanes of bridge. No piece was larger than a plate. Say your prayers, young man, you were saved today!

We asked the kid why he was standing in front of the car like that in the dark. (With a black shirt and jeans on). He said he was trying to make sure no one else got hurt. The trucker told him he was lucky he hadn't gotten killed. I also told him the same. Get away from the car! We also asked him what happened initially. He said he didn't know. So I suppose it's safe to say he fell asleep at the wheel and woke to hitting the side of the bridge.

Now, you may think that's the only nasty part of the trip. Oh, no. There's still more to come.