Black Ice & Babies

Brandon finished his second-to-last internship for Physical Therapy school in Las Vegas on December 15^th, and we packed up our lives into a storage unit there and drove to Moscow, ID. With an 8 week old. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the century. Teagan had been in the car for a grand total of half an hour at a time, so I had no idea how this 18 hour journey would go. We planned to take it in 6 hour chunks, stopping in Provo with Mat & Manda and Boise with our friend Burk Bradshaw’s parents. Now that it’s behind us, we probably could have driven the whole thing in one shot! Teagan was a champion. 

She slept the entire way to Provo, then slept all the way through the night – to the point where I woke up in a puddle of breastmilk (sorry, TMI) because she usually wakes up to eat and instead slept right through. Then it was on to Boise, where WE stopped to eat, thinking that Teagan would wake up and want to eat as well, but she continued to sleep until we got to the Bradshaw’s, where she slept in an actual crib (vs. a Pack ‘n’ Play) for the first time and loved it. 

With 17 hours down and 1 to go, we hit a patch of black ice. We spun about 3 times, and somehow I knew we would be okay and that I didn’t need to worry. I wrapped my arms around Teagan’s car seat (as if that would help)and just took deep breaths. We ended up on the opposite side of the road, teetering on the edge of the ditch. Buddy and I looked at each other and both held our breath as if that would keep us from sliding. Turns out it didn’t work and we ended up sliding, in what felt like slow-motion down the embankment. In the snow. We turned immediately to Teagan and to our astonishment, she had slept through the whole thing. Buddy hopped out and ran to the top of the hill to call for help. 

Only a few minutes went by and an Emergency Response vehicle stopped to make sure we were okay. Like an idiot, I had worn flip-flops and was mortified when they told me that we needed to get out of the car. They offered to have us sit in the back of the emergency vehicle until we were able to have the car towed out of the ditch. Just then, we heard a screech and the sickening sound of metal on metal as another car spun and wound up slamming into the back of a semi loaded with logs. Yikes! So they hurried Teagan & I into the back of the van while they tended to this new accident. Luckily I had packed some bottles of breastmilk so I fed her while we were waiting…and waiting…and waiting. After almost an hour, they team suggested they drop Teagan and I off at a nearby gas station so we could keep warm and maybe get some food while Buddy waited for the tow truck. They offered me money when they dropped me off to get something to eat, but I felt like they’d already done enough for me, so I declined. 

We ended up waiting for more than an hour at the gas station, with a manager named Cookie who was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. She offered me anything on the menu at no cost, and continually checked on the baby and I to make sure we were okay and offered to drive Buddy over to pick up the diaper bag when he showed up later. 

Mat and Manda, who had left Provo nearly 3 hours after we left Boise ended up catching us and we formed a convoy for the rest of the trip. Although they weren’t in the car with us, it was very reassuring to have them right behind us for the last leg. We finally made it and began our sojourn  in Moscow, Idaho.

We began to wonder why this would have happened to us when we always begin roadtrips with a prayer asking to be kept safe, why we weren't. In talking with Buddy, we realized that we indeed had been kept safe. There are a myriad of things that could have happened to us. It's a miracle that there was no traffic coming from the opposite direction while we were spinning out across the freeway or teetering on the edge of the hill. We had been kept safe and were able to drive our car the rest of the way with no problems at all. What an opportunity to think about our blessings. And Teagan slept through the whole ordeal.