Semi VS Jeep

Well, it has been a few weeks since I posted last, but I think I have a good excuse this time! Cleo and I decided (rather last minute) to go see my family for Christmas. We thought it might be good to visit when we weren't attending a funeral at least once this year. My mistake. I had to drive it (1300 + miles) because there was no place I was comfortable leaving Cleo that had space over the holidays. We left at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday to beat a big winter storm that was fore-casted for Christmas weekend. It was crazy foggy, so the first few hours were kinda stressful, and by the time the fog had lifted we were somewhere in Illinois. We were on the road all day and dropped in (unannounced - because that's how I roll) on my sister near Atlanta for the evening. After a nice overnight visit, we made the seven hour drive to Lakeland and relaxed.

Christmas was really (new laptop - thanks mom!) nice. My brother and I made dinner and it turned out pretty well, even if the ham booby trapped! Why they have to put a stealth net on that SOB that you can't even see until it's on fire I'll never know... Could they mention removing the invisible incendary device before cooking ... is that too much to ask? Anyway, it was edible - but I don't think we are in charge of cooking next year (score!). The visit was lovely and I wished I could stay longer, but alas - I needed to return to work.

We left early Saturday morning and while traveling through Georgia we hit a snag... or shall I say the "snag" (read Semi truck) hit me! Someone several cars ahead of me suddenly decided they needed to be stopped RIGHT NOW with no warning and the rest of us were left smoking tires to keep from causing a crash. The semi behind me didn't make it. He tried to avoid me (running a sedan off the road in the process), but he still hit me pretty hard. It was very scary to see pieces of my bumper and tail lights go flying past my front windshield. Luckily, Cleo and I were OK, but sadly the Jeep (my baby!) wasn't! My jeep limped across the road on a shredded tire and bent rear axle to become mired in about six inches of Georgia devil clay. The tow truck almost tipped us over trying to winch us out of that mess. The sedan had to be hauled out as well because they were in clay to the top of their wheel wells! I called my sister, who drove 2 1/2 hours to pick me up in front of the jail (the only place I could sit with Cleo). My brother and his girlfriend kindly drove 6 hours (each way) to bring me back to Lakeland where I waited several days to find out if the jeep was totaled or not...

Luckily it was not, although the damage was about $6000. Insurance is taking care of the repairs, but it won't be ready for another week. In the meantime, I flew to Wisconsin - so I'm back at work. Looking forward to the long drive back (ha ha), but it will be nice to see Cleo again (she had to stay in Florida for a few weeks). Well, that's all for now.... miss everyone!