Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Our Memorable Mountain Adventure

An adventure is right. One that we won't soon forget.

(You may want to make sure you've got some time b/c this is gonna be a long one.......)

I mentioned in my last post that we were going to the mountains for a fun and relaxing weekend with friends. We started out on our adventure by heading to Albemarle late Thursday night. We decided to break up our drive to Black Mountain so that Joshua would tolerate the ride a little better and so that we could try and get there before the snow started. We also wanted to go visit Derek's grandmother on Friday morning. She fell a few weeks ago and is in a rehabilitation center for a few weeks. We left our house after Joshua went to bed and he slept most of the way there. He woke up when we got there and decided he didn't want to go to bed. At 2:00 Friday morning I couldn't take anymore...I needed some sleep. Derek told me to go to bed and he would get Joshua to sleep. He ended up taking Joshua out for a drive and they ended up at Walmart. I'm sure people were wondering what in the world a man was doing there in the middle of the night with a toddler in his pajamas. Joshua finally fell asleep on the way back to the house at 3:00 in the morning. He woke up once again at 6:00 that morning. Let's just say that that was a long night. We were quite tired on Friday, but we did get ourselves up to go see Grandma. It was great to see her, and I think she really enjoyed having Joshua there. When went out to lunch with Derek's parents and grandfather before going on our way to Black Mountain.

Oh Black Mountain.....you are not my friend......

Joshua usually naps after lunch, so it worked out well. He slept for about 2 and a half hours of the almost three hour trip. We were glad that the trip seemed to be going so smooth for us. With about 20 minutes left in our trip the snow started falling. We were hoping to beat it there, but we were glad that it had held off that long. We got off the interstate and headed up the road on the mountain toward our cabin for the weekend. Christopher, Kara, baby Caleb and Brooke were just a few minutes behind us. (Jeremy was coming up later that night after work.) The road wasn't getting that slick yet, but the snow was definitely sticking to it. We encountered a truck trying to pull a trailer up the mountain that was slipping around quite a bit. Shortly after that we realized the road was getting slicker, so I called Brooke to tell them to hurry up at the grocery store and get on up the mountain for fear that they wouldn't be able to make it up. Right as I called her we went around a curve and the mountain sloped down. The back of our car swung out a little and caused us to start swirving/sliding. Luckily there wasn't a car on the other side of the road, or we would have hit it. We weren't driving very fast, but with the downward slope we picked up momentum and Derek wasn't able to regain control of the car. We crossed the center line and crashed into the side of the mountain that was solid rock. We weren't going fast, so it wasn't a huge dramatic crash, but it was a crash nonetheless.

My.poor.Honda.got.beat.up.by.a.mountain.

It was almost like the mountain took a bite out of the front of our car and spit us out. We weren't even going fast enough to make the airbags go off thank goodness. I was still on the phone with Brooke, so I let her know we needed to go. I was in shock to say the least. We were able to drive a little ways and park the car off the road out of the way of traffic. It was scary, I won't lie. The Lord was definitely watching over us and providing for us along the way. A good samaritan who was a short ways behind stopped to offer some help. He offered to drive us up to our cabin, so we unloaded all of our stuff into his car. He got part of the way up the next part of the mountain...the steepest part....but he couldn't get all the way up to where we were going. It was pouring snow at this point and the road was completely covered in a thick layer. Our new friend, Kerry, who stopped to help us offered to take us to his house so that we could figure out what we were going to do. I was freaking out. I was nauseous and felt like I was going to pass out, but Derek stayed calm and held it together for us. He was determined to figure out what to do. He called AAA and they said no they wouldn't come during the snow storm. Kerry was afraid to try to drive us back down the mountain for fear that he wouldn't be able to get back up. I thought we were going to end up being stuck at their house the entire weekend until the snow cleared up and someone could come rescue us. Kerry and his wife Michelle started cleaning up the house for us and preparing their guest bedroom because we figured there was no other choice. We were so very grateful for them being so generous and hospitable to us. It was an awkward and tense situation, but they were trying their best to make us more comfortable. A few hours after we got stranded on the mountain Brooke called and said her parents were driving from Asheville in their four wheel drive Expedition to try and rescue us. We were afraid they would end up getting stuck too, but a little while later they called and said they were there! They were only able to get up to where our car was, so we loaded up our stuff and carried it all back down to their car. An hour after that we were safe and warm inside their BEAUTIFUL home in Asheville!!! Christopher, Kara, baby Caleb and Brooke made it to Brooke's parents' house about an hour after we did. They got stuck on the interstate and were stopped for a few hours. What should have been a 20 or 30 minute drive ended up taking several hours. Jeremy, who was supposed to be getting to the mountains last beat us all there....ha! We were just all happy to be together and safe! Brooke's parents were so very generous to host us the entire weekend. We stayed in their beautiful home with lots of fun stuff to play with and lots of space to run around in!



On Saturday we went outside to sled in the FOOT of snow!!! We had sooo much fun! Joshua loved the snow once he warmed up to it. He was not the biggest fan of trying to walk in snow that covered all of his legs. Every time he tried to walk in that he would fall down. He was much happier walking in the tire tracks that had packed down the snow. He seemed to enjoy the sledding somewhat but was perfectly content to just sit and play in the snow. He loved the snow so much that when it was way past lunch and nap time and I tried to take him inside he screamed bloody murder and held onto the door frame for all it was worth. He was determined he was not going inside!



Derek and Jeremy put on garbage bags and slid down the mountain on their backs. They went pretty fast that way. Joshua even got to ride on Derek's belly down the mountain.


The rest of Saturday was spent soaking in the hot tub outside in the snow, grilling a yummy steak dinner, and playing pool and the Wii! It was a great day!


On Sunday we packed up and headed for home. Christopher and Kara drove Joshua and me home. Derek rode with Jeremy and Brooke to Charlotte and then drove Brooke's car to our house. She was going out of town on business and didn't need her car, so she graciously offered to let us borrow it rather than having to pay to rent a car. We have such wonderful and caring friends!

We need to give a big blog thank you to the Kelley's for rescuing us and inviting us into their home! It was a crazy but wonderful weekend! The next time we plan for a trip to the mountains, though, I think we'll go when it's warmer!

*Thanks for making it all the way to the end! I started this post a week ago, but it was so long that it took me a week to finish it....ha!

1 comment:

Knappsters said...

Wow, that is crazy! Glad y'all made it ok, but sorry to hear about your car. If I am ever stuck anywhere, then I want it to be with Derek...he's so positive. Miss you all!