Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Flying Hubcaps

Back when the Daughter first got her drivers license we drove from NM to California to pick up a car for her, Cindy’s Dad had a Plymouth Sundance with a standard transmission that only two people in the Continental United States could drive.

Cindy’s Dad was one and I happened to be the other, it was a really nice car once you mastered the art of changing the gears, so after several days of training, screaming, crying, and grinding gears Melissa could now drive it.

We headed back to New Mexico, Melissa was excited thinking she would be driving on the freeway; Cindy and I were apprehensive because we knew that Melissa did not have enough experience for this type of a trip as of yet.

Following her for the very first time my fears were confirmed when I saw two hubcaps fly from her car straight into the wide blue yonder, the very next stop Melissa was sent to the passenger side of the car, I should have realized then how many tires she would eventually destroy, I had a flat became a common phrase in our house.

We finally set into a rhythm driving down the highway, Cindy was following behind me and Melissa was asleep on the passenger seat of the car I was driving, I was finally in charge of how fast we would be going, and for a bonus I was listening to the tunes I like.

All of a sudden right in front of me two cars come to a complete stop, side by side mind you and it appeared they were chatting with each other, coming up on them at about 80mph I pulled onto the shoulder and went around, Cindy followed and you would think the worst was over…Right?

Following Cindy was a Semi Truck that was not slowing down, Cindy swerves to the left and all I could see in my rearview mirror was his Chrome Bumper, I swerved back to the right onto the shoulder and looked to my left to see Cindy looking at me from underneath the trailer on the other side of the truck.

It was kind of like one of those scenes you would expect in a movie like Smokey and The Bandit, here we are driving toward Albuquerque, NM at about 75mph, 3 wide with Cindy in the left lane, a maniac trucker in the right, and me on the shoulder waving to my wife under the trailer of his truck.

He laid on the air horn as he went between us and I pulled back into the lane, the very next exit we pulled off because I think we were both shaking so hard by that time we couldn’t drive anymore without settling our nerves.

Just as I parked the car Melissa threw the blanket she was covered with aside, yawned and asked, “Why are we stopping?” I said that was a close one, we were almost run over by a truck, she then had the nerve to say, “Why didn’t you wake me up, because I would have wanted to see that”

I can’t imagine myself calmly saying, Hey Melissa you had better wake up because this is an accident you should really see, “Well you don’t have to be so mean about it” she said.

This was almost as bad as the time we almost ran into an airplane that was crossing the highway on our way to Texas.

Have you had any close calls that did not result in an accident?

24 comments:

  1. I would have required a pit stop AND a change of underwear!

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    1. Hey Ms. A, A pit stop was definitely required :^0

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  2. This could have ended so horribly. Thank God everything turned out okay.

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    1. Yes Stephen, This could have taken a turn for the worse in so many different ways, we were definitely lucky.

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  3. Oh my gosh!! This was just scary to read about; I'm sure it was terrifying to be involved in it! Glad no one got hurt in this!! I'm sure we've had close calls like this; I just tend to close my eyes (not driving) when I think we're going to get hit so I avoid seeing a lot of these missed calls.

    have a great Wednesday!

    betty

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    1. Hi Betty, Looking back I am very thankful that no one was hurt, I don't drive that much anymore so I tend to look off into the distance while Cindy is driving Ha Ha, although she has always gotten us to where we are going safely :)

      A Great day to you also.

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  4. How does one sleep through that?

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    1. Joe, I have always wondered this myself, I am still amazed that she slept through it all, the air horn included.

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  5. I think you win the "close calls" award. Yikes! Do you know whatever happened to the stopped side-by-side cars?

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    1. Hey MC, I'll take the close calls award as long as they don't get any closer Ha Ha, we did pass the stopped side by side cars later on down the road, they were following one another slowly along the road, I think Cindy told them they were Number 1 as we passed.

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  6. I felt rather tense as I read this... thank goodness the trip didn't end in disaster. Mind you, I had to smile at the end... Melissa's comment was a peach. Now do we get to hear about the incident with the aeroplane... PLEASE?

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    1. Hi Valerie, One thing about our Daughter is she always has a statement that we can smile about later, this one I smile about today.

      I'll start writing a post on the airplane, I suppose I had better since I brought it up Ha Ha

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  7. I'm also interested in the airplane story and how Melissa managed to get so many flats?

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    1. Hi Bijoux, Melissa has a way with tires, if there is something to be ran over she is the one to hit it and blow out a tire, I suggested that she find a good tire dealer to marry Ha Ha

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  8. Yowza, that was a little ( a LOT) too close for comfort. Thank goodness your daughter was sleeping ... and not driving. We've had a few close calls over the years, too. The funniest (in retrospect) was the time we went to Dobbins to pick up some stuff my brother, who was in the Marines at the time, had shipped there. He'd come to visit us on leave, and we all piled into my old Mercury Commuter station wagon and headed that-a-way, with my hubby behind the wheel. We were kinda "exploring" the base, and he turned onto a little road through the hedges. Wouldja believe it dumped us directly onto the tarmac? Looking nose-to-nose with a monstrous-sized transport plane that was taxiing toward us??? OY! (We can laugh at it NOW...)

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    1. Lordy Susan, I bet that was an eye opener, how long did it take for him to get that Mercury back through the hedges? Yes it's good when they turn out to be stories to laugh at later on :)

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    2. Let's just put it this way: it took a lot less time to go OUT than it took to come IN!

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    3. I imagine that was a quick turn around Ha Ha

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  9. So you have airplanes on the roads where you live? I'm coming to visit and bring my camera!

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    1. Now that would be a picture to have, they actually had the Space Shuttle on the road here not long ago :)

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  10. HOLY COW...I was biting my fingernails while reading this post, Jimmy!

    YIKES...what a close call!!!!

    I had a close call one time while driving through a snow storm in upstate NY. The car I was in suddenly slid out of control on the icy road, sending the car spinning in circles. It all happened like it was in slow motion.

    Luckily, there were no other cars behind us, so we didn't get hit.

    Just SCARED out of our minds!

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    1. Hey Ron, Yes Sir a spin like that would definitely scare you to death!

      Glad to have you back Buddy!

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  11. Years ago when I was 18, my stepfather rounded a curve in the mountains on the Pennsylvania Turnpike so fast that it felt like we were on 2 wheels on the same side of the car. I was asleep (like Melissa)in the back seat, but woke up mid flight/squeal, alternating looks between my stepfather and the valley WAAAAAY down below. He pulled over when he could and he settled down by pulling his flask from under the seat to take a swig.

    Mom (who was riding shotgun) and I still laugh about it nowadays.

    I'm visiting from Abby's. You tell a good story. :)

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    1. Hi Anita, I can sure see how that experience would have shaken you awake, I can't say I blame your Step Dad for "Calming his nerves"

      It gives you and your Mom a great story to look back on and laugh about.

      Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words, I look forward to seeing you again soon.

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