One Day at a Time

We drove from Mpls to Wyoming today, the first leg of our drive to the husband's parents in Las Vegas (my mom is in Laramie, so we're leaving the kids with her while we go to Vegas, then spending some more time in Laramie on the way back).

We left Mpls in heavy, wet snow. Driving was pretty ugly because cars were breaking random tracks on the snow-covered road, tracks that weren't in any particular lane.

By the time we got to northern Iowa, the heavy snow had quit, but it turned into a sleety/haily snow, and the roads were definitely slick. We saw some cars off the road, but nothing looked too serious. At Des Moines, we turned west on I-80.

The husband and I have been driving in winter for the whole 15 years we've been together. We're used to seeing the aftermaths of accidents, the evidence of cars off the road, either whole or with body damage. But the accident we saw today will stay with me for a long time. It was about 1/2 hour west of Des Moines, and must have happened just before we got there--highway patrol wasn't even on the scene. Cars were backed up in both lanes, so we were predicting a semi across the road, or something to that effect (never mind the joker who decided to pass everyone on the left shoulder).

We got through pretty quickly, but as we passed, I could tell it was a pretty bad accident off to the right. There were several cars stopped that all looked fine (I think they were the samaritans who were first on the scene), but the bad one was the pickup that was off the road and up the embankment; it looked like it had rolled once or twice. I'm not at all sure about the details, but there was debris across the road, and there were a few cars going the other direction that had stopped, too. It's quite possible that the pickup had been traveling east, perhaps gone into the median and into the westbound lanes, and had rolled while trying to correct.

As we passed, however, I saw a person lying under a blanket, a blanket that had been pulled up over the head. The person's legs were curled up, and one hand was out from under the blanket. I'm pretty sure the accident was a fatality.

It wouldn't at all surprise me if we've passed other fatal accidents before, but I've never seen the evidence so starkly in front of my. We didn't need to stop because there were numerous helpers and the ambulance/patrol were just behind us. It really affected me far more than I ever expected something like that would. It was just so rough to see someone lying there like that, probably dead on the road, at Christmastime.

We arrived safely, without any problems. The husband is a wonderful driver when it comes to bad situations. But hug your loved ones, and please send good travel wishes to all who are traveling for the holidays.