Tuesday morning, 12-23-08
Well, after two days at Kirstin's house it is time to come home. I have to leave by 7am because Zach has a doctor's appt at 9:30am in Tacoma. Their driveway is a bit of an incline and right on a major road, so I had driven straight in so I could back straight out. They have 12+ inches of snow and the driveway had not been plowed at all. There is a strip of pavement to get onto the road and then on either side is a ditch. Soooo Kirk came out to help me navigate onto the road and tell me if any cars are coming. I back down the driveway and just as I'm asking him if I'm going to run into the ditch I feel the car slip into the ditch....aaaahhhhh!!! I just barely slip a little, but it is enough to get me stuck. I try and drive forward and my tires spin. I don't dare continue backwards and go into the ditch further. Kirk tries to dig out around the tires and put wood in front of the tires to give me traction, but nothing works. Their neighbor comes driving by in his big 4wd truck and offers to help us. I'm ready to cry and praying that God would give me a little grace and get me out of the ditch. I made the horrible call to tell Darin that I put the Tahoe in the ditch......he was calm about it. He wanted to know if I dented it and not that if I couldn't get it out just to leave it and he and his dad would be up later to get it out. The neighbor, Patrick, hooked up the Tahoe to his truck to help give tension and traction and then he would ratchet it is as I made progress. After about 30minutes or so I was out of the ditch! Patrick took over the last 10minutes and got it out and then back it out onto the road for me. Thank you Lord!! BUT Patrick gets out of the car and says that my power steering is gone. If you have ever been without power steering you know what a catastrophe that is. I guess as I was trying to get traction and turn my tires I broke the power steering pump.....nice! I call Darin and tell him that I'm out of the ditch but I think the power steering is broke and by this time I'm surprised the tears aren't streaming down my face, but I'm holding them in. I meet Darin in Tacoma for Zach's appt and I go into the parking garage to park. I try to turn to go up into the second level and I can't make the turn without power steering and I thankfully make the decision to just go straight out of the garage. I would have been stuck if I made the turn.....I wouldn't have been able to make any others. It is crazy difficult to drive your vehicle without power steering. After the appt Darin says to follow him to Parkland Chevrolet....he had already called them earlier and told them we were on our way. Not surprising if you know him.....so on top of things! Well, the power steering was broke and it cost us $700 to get it fixed, but we had it back today. I had to humble myself and apologize to Darin for not listening to him and being stubborn and going to Bothell in the midst of a snow "storm". He said he wasn't angry "just disappointed"..... Oh those horrible words..... Oh well, at least it is a good story to tell and I got some good experience in the snow and I definitely know what I'll do different next time (not necessarily stay home, LOL).
I didn't get any pictures of me in the ditch (I was a little stressed), but here are a couple of the area around Kirstin's house.
Well, after two days at Kirstin's house it is time to come home. I have to leave by 7am because Zach has a doctor's appt at 9:30am in Tacoma. Their driveway is a bit of an incline and right on a major road, so I had driven straight in so I could back straight out. They have 12+ inches of snow and the driveway had not been plowed at all. There is a strip of pavement to get onto the road and then on either side is a ditch. Soooo Kirk came out to help me navigate onto the road and tell me if any cars are coming. I back down the driveway and just as I'm asking him if I'm going to run into the ditch I feel the car slip into the ditch....aaaahhhhh!!! I just barely slip a little, but it is enough to get me stuck. I try and drive forward and my tires spin. I don't dare continue backwards and go into the ditch further. Kirk tries to dig out around the tires and put wood in front of the tires to give me traction, but nothing works. Their neighbor comes driving by in his big 4wd truck and offers to help us. I'm ready to cry and praying that God would give me a little grace and get me out of the ditch. I made the horrible call to tell Darin that I put the Tahoe in the ditch......he was calm about it. He wanted to know if I dented it and not that if I couldn't get it out just to leave it and he and his dad would be up later to get it out. The neighbor, Patrick, hooked up the Tahoe to his truck to help give tension and traction and then he would ratchet it is as I made progress. After about 30minutes or so I was out of the ditch! Patrick took over the last 10minutes and got it out and then back it out onto the road for me. Thank you Lord!! BUT Patrick gets out of the car and says that my power steering is gone. If you have ever been without power steering you know what a catastrophe that is. I guess as I was trying to get traction and turn my tires I broke the power steering pump.....nice! I call Darin and tell him that I'm out of the ditch but I think the power steering is broke and by this time I'm surprised the tears aren't streaming down my face, but I'm holding them in. I meet Darin in Tacoma for Zach's appt and I go into the parking garage to park. I try to turn to go up into the second level and I can't make the turn without power steering and I thankfully make the decision to just go straight out of the garage. I would have been stuck if I made the turn.....I wouldn't have been able to make any others. It is crazy difficult to drive your vehicle without power steering. After the appt Darin says to follow him to Parkland Chevrolet....he had already called them earlier and told them we were on our way. Not surprising if you know him.....so on top of things! Well, the power steering was broke and it cost us $700 to get it fixed, but we had it back today. I had to humble myself and apologize to Darin for not listening to him and being stubborn and going to Bothell in the midst of a snow "storm". He said he wasn't angry "just disappointed"..... Oh those horrible words..... Oh well, at least it is a good story to tell and I got some good experience in the snow and I definitely know what I'll do different next time (not necessarily stay home, LOL).
I didn't get any pictures of me in the ditch (I was a little stressed), but here are a couple of the area around Kirstin's house.
After we dropped off the Tahoe we went to McDonald playland and Lissy wanted to pose with Ronald McDonald. :0)
1 comment:
Poor thing! That sounds awful! I rolled into someone in a turn lane, and had to call Derek to tell him - I feel your pain! Luckily there was no damage and it was fine, but driving in snow is so much stress!
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