From A Simple Christmas Shopping Trip....To A Near Miss.

It all started on Wednesday, November 10th...It was our 4 year anniversary and our first date in over a year. We went out for dinner sans children, ate tons of delicious food, drank wine, laughed and talked...and talked...and talked...we reflected over everything we had been through in such a short time and talked about how well we get along and happy we are with each other and how lucky we are to have found each other because we just fit so well...it was like falling in love all over again....and it made us even more grateful that we had each other to rely on when things get hard...and well...it was just a night that we didn't take for granted...we enjoyed every second with each other and listened intently to one another as we each took the time to tell each other what we loved about our lives together. And we went home with an even greater sense of appreciation for everything we had....

And then the very next day it was magnified...by about 1,000,000,000.

Near miss is RIGHT! We decided about a month ago to send Joey to his dads family for a few days at this time so,
A: He could spend a few days with them and
B: WE could take a drive to Edmonton to go Christmas shopping sans the boy and his curious little eyes...before the weather got too bad...and therefore bad roads etc...

Didn't matter.
About 45 minutes into the trip...we see a white truck about 5 vehicles ahead, pull out to pass a guy in front of him....Fine...except there was a semi coming straight for him in the opposite direction...Nobody knows what this guy was thinking...but anyhow...the semi pulled as far over as he could....unfortunately it didn't prevent complete chaos from exploding all over highway 63...yet again. All you could see was debris everywhere...the white truck spinning (not flipping) around miraculously NOT hitting any of the 5-7 vehicles it was around....and then there was the semi...it was a logging truck...empty...but a logging truck nonetheless. it connects with the white GMC which sends it jackknifed straight into our lane directly towards us.....We were VERY lucky.

Before all this went down we took note of all the vehicles and said how silly they all looked because they were so close to one another...we also poked fun at how they were all speeding and the fact that we certainly were NOT falling for the "we can speed too because the police ALWAYS pull over the guy in the front....(NOT true....speaking from the experience of our LAST Edmonton trip....good times...) So we kept our distance...and Tony kept a watchful eye on the speedometer...I think this saved our lives....We were far enough away to avoid certain death.....About 10 feet to be exact.....

So...the semi flies by, RIGHT in front of us as we slam on our brakes...then I (being an EMR) LEAPED out of the car...ran to the guy in the semi... assessed the driver....he was fine...so I bolted to the guy in the white GMC to find him walking around (BIG no no) and saying he was fine...He had a bleeding nose from his airbag going off and a bit of glass in his mouth...I checked him over and stayed by his side in case the shock wore off and he started to feel the effects of the accident (the thing with first aid is...there's really only so much you can do without their permission...it's really crappy!). He ended up being fine...the police came...first response was there and took over for me...it was excellent.....(no, not really). He didn't want an ambulance which was fine....he had a ride back to Fort McMurray, and a rental car ready for him before we were finished writing our witness statements...

This poor guy just got off night shift...we don't know what the deal was with his decision making...he claimed the sun was in his eyes...unfortunately the sun was NOT in any of the other peoples eyes...therefore we all think he was saying what (he thought) would make the situation easier on him...It IS reasonable to assume that he was exhausted, saw the truck but didn't compute the issue to come, should he pull out...THAT, I would believe...I've misjudged due to being tired in the past, and I certainly was not about to tell him off as he had that happen multiple times by other drivers by the time I got to him...I was more concerned with his life....And that's exactly what I told him...

It's kind of funny how the real version of ourselves comes out in this sort of situation...By all accounts, we avoided a head-on collision with the semi, by only a few feet because of this persons bad decision making...yet both Tony and I were more concerned with how the 2 drivers were doing...and stuck by the man at fault, until the police arrived, to make sure he was alright....We just wanted to make sure everyone was ok....

Anyhow, here are the shots...

This is after being pulled off the road by a police truck...The semi driver saved this guys life by pulling as far to the right as he could, avoiding a direct head-on...a few inches closer to the middle of this truck and 200km+ contact would have ended up with a VERY different outcome.

Now in this next shot (Of the semi..below)...try to imagine that I have run passed the truck, turned around and taken the picture from behind it...because that's exactly what I did...the truck is facing the direction he was driving....we were the oncoming vehicle next in line for contact and he flew right in front of us ending in the ditch....This is a logging truck...imagine had there of been logs on there...again...a VERY different outcome would have occurred...and I may not be writing this right now....

I had no zoom on my phone...but the semi is the thing in the ditch on the left...good times...good times...

Anyhow...this is NOT a cake post....BUT..the Christmas shopping got finished..and I DID buy loads of cake shtufffff....aaaannnd my visa is full. hahaha!! BUT I got lots of cool things...colors, flavors, molds, pans...you know..general things that all decorator extraordinare wannabes have in their kitchens...but I have NOWHERE to put any of it!!! AHHHHH!!! Guess we need to buy a new house? (ya...RIGHT....lol

And then we had to face the roads coming home....

About 5 minutes before the junction to highway 55...we decide to turn on the radio....JUST as we get to a station we both enjoy, the announcer gets on and says the following:
"The highway between junction 55 and Mariana Lake has seen a lot of freezing rain and the police are STRONGLY recommending that drivers do NOT drive on it today"...Well crap. We were already there...what to do? What to do?? Drive slow. Didn't do much...we were ALL OVER THE DAMN ROAD!!! We had to pull over for an hour to calm our nerves and attempt the stupid highway again...funny thing...the road was UBER busy with crazy fast drivers passing each other like lunatics..and all we could do was wonder why WE were the only ones too scared to drive...WTF!? Well....a 4 1/2 hour drive turned into and 8 hour drive....and the baby was FANTASTIC the entire way. Dream baby...We wouldn't have braved the roads but we were already there...it was as stupid as that. Last trip (aside from January for the baby's surgery...I'm SOOO looking forward to that one...[enter sarcasm here]). I hate bad roads...I hate bad drivers...I LOATH the combination....and I don't want to get on that highway again for years...sigh...if only that were an option.....

Anyhow..we are all safe at home...Joey is home from Sparwood...everyone is good and I am making CAKES next week! SWEET!!!!

That post will be SO much better!! hahahaha!!!!