I arrived home Wednesday…not really sure what time but I am here. I left NY on Tuesday and had my route all planned out. I knew the exact exit I needed to take and then it was pretty much smooth sailing. There was an accident at my exit and I had NO idea how to get to the route I needed and I was driving in four lanes of traffic with people who CLEARLY knew where THEY were going. I ended up in the town where I grew up (about 50 miles off track). I stopped at a little store and asked for directions but the people working had no idea and my phone refused to speak to me. I think Siri hates me. I bought a map of New York State and tried to figure out how to get to PA, clearly, I needed to head south. I remembered something my mother used to say all the time. “If you know you are heading in the right direction, just keep driving, sooner or later, you will find the place you are supposed to be.” My family kept texting me until I pulled over and told them to STOP, I cannot read a text and drive. I finally found a place where I could talk to my husband on Bluetooth and he told me that I was actually heading in the right direction and that I should find the route I wanted pretty soon. I saw the exit but missed it so pulled into a Walmart where a lady was kind enough to direct me. I got into PA just as some pretty impressive rain hit the very hot pavement and there was an accident in the opposite lanes…one with what appeared to be serious casualties from people being thrown from a vehicle. I was an ER nurse but that is not the same as seeing people on the pavement. I did not handle it well, I was tired and frustrated and I just started to cry. I kept wiping my eyes so I could see…I saw a deer struggling to get up a hill, it had clearly been hit. That was it, I HAD to pull into the next gas station so I could safely cry. I got back on the road and all was going pretty well until a major storm hit, one with torrential downpours, hail, and flooding roads. Everyone was driving with four way flashers, there was no safe place to pull over because the rain was coming down the mountains like waterfalls. I heard later that night when I listened to local news in my motel that there had been 26 accidents related to that storm. How I avoided being in one of them is beyond me. I guess praying out loud and screaming did something. I pulled over AFTER the storm and went into a mall I had been to before. I needed to check my directions, let people know where I was, and then get back on the road. I still had a ways to go to get to my motel. I made it, unloaded my car and showered and fell asleep. The alarm clock was set for 5:30…not by me and I couldn’t shut it off so I unplugged it. If I wanted to watch TV, I had to reprogram the remote every time I turned it on. I did report that to the desk. I ate breakfast and a maintenance guy actually helped me carry my stuff to the car. That was really nice and unexpected. I had left a $3 tip on the dresser but that hardly seemed adequate. I had no more change. I called pulmonary rehab and they told me that they have me scheduled for 2:15 Friday and twice next week. My neck and shoulder are better and I hope they STAY that way. Now, I will try to get back to reading blogs and commenting. I am glad this trip is over, I am also glad I went, my granddaughter’s graduation and party were lovely. It was wonderful to see family, I saw my sister, my brother, cousins, my oldest daughter, and spent some laughing times with my youngest. Hope everyone has a safe Fourth of July Weekend! I am not going ANYWHERE! YAY!
If I had been smoking and tried to light a cigarette or flick the ashes out the window, I would most definitely not have been able to control the car, my knuckles were seriiously white and throbbing from holding onto the wheel!
