When I returned from my Journey to Inspire that took me to the East Coast, it was nothing short of a wild, scary trip and when I did make it back, I started writing an email update of sorts to all my friends in family. It turned into a 6 part Mini Drama that I thoroughly enjoy reliving each time I read it but would NEVER want to go through again! So here it is, Part One ~ Back in AZ ~ Worst Road Trip of my Life! LIKE and Share when you want Part Two... The title says it all ~ driving home from New Hampshire to Scottsdale was by far, the worst experience in cross country driving of my life. I knew the car needed shocks and possibly an axle but was told by the mechanic who had worked on it for the previous owners that the car should be fine for the 2800 miles I was about to drive, just a little bumpy. What great news, I could deal with that! After all, I made it there in a 78 Dodge RV with no problems ~ how could a 2002 Jetta fail me? I would soon find out the limits of the car, in the scariest way possible (in my eyes of course). I left Franconia, NH on Friday Aug. 2nd at about 4:00pm and stopped four hours later in Trumbull, CT to stay the night and say goodbye to a few friends. I made it there without incident, just a smile on my face, knowing I would be home in less than 72 hours. I got on the road around 10:00AM on Saturday and with the exception of missing one very important exit (the one that went West towards Phoenix) I had no major issues. It rained all the way until I stopped 400 miles later for gas in Hope Township, NJ. I thought to myself of the significance since Hope is one of my most favorite words (Hang On Problems End). The car made a bit of a crackling noise as I returned to the highway, shifting into third gear but I just chalked it up to my imagination, NOTHING was wrong. My original intent was to drive nonstop, maybe sleep for an hour or two every 1000 miles ~ I was convinced I could do it and the sheer adrenaline of my excitement for getting home would keep me awake. Eighteen hours later and I started thinking it might be smart for me to stop for a bit. I pulled into a truck stop around 6:00am and set out to sleep, sitting up in the front seat since the dogs had the entire back seat. I just did NOT want to spend money on a hotel if I could avoid it. The dogs snoring and the obvious discomfort of sleeping in the same position I had been sitting in for the last 18 hours wasnt working and I soon gave up and got back on the road. Fast forward eight hours later and now I was in the most terrifying thunder and lighting storm Ive ever driven in in Springfield, MO. I literally could not see the road and the flashing hazards of the driver in front of me were fuzzy. Paralyzed with fear, I pulled on to the shoulder of I-44, not able to drive another yard. It continued to POUR and as I watched each truck get closer to me in my side mirror, a bolt of lighting hit a tree 200 yards from where I was, resulting in fire shooting out of the tree. This was when I discovered another issue with the car as water started pouring on to my flip-flop wearing feet at the gas and clutch. Are you kidding me? was all I could think with my next thought drifting to I dont want to die. I knew if I stayed in that spot, one of these 18 wheelers barreling through the rain isnt going to see me and the end result could be devastating. I slowly got back on highway, literally trembling and whimpering God, just please keep me safe. I drove a half mile and got off at the next exit. By then it had been over 24 hours since I had slept and my mind was playing tricks on me. I stayed in a Walmart parking lot until the rain eased up and then got back on the road. A few hours later and a hundred miles east of OKC I knew I had to stop and get a hotel and sleep. As I exited the Turnpike my car made a horrible grinding noise at the rear left wheel and swayed like I had no control of it. By now I was on almost 30 hours of no sleep and I was about to lose it. I begged, pleaded and prayed for God to just get me to the Super 8 that I saw up on the hill before all four wheels of the car flew off because in my mind, thats what was about to happen...as I limped the car forward the grinding noise kept getting worse and... To be continued...
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 02:11:55 +0000