On Thursday night as I was driving home from work, I got into an accident. I’d taken a short-cut over Suncrest, a small mountainous area that divides Salt Lake County and Utah County, thinking that while the roads might be a bit slippery, they keep them pretty well plowed and at least there wouldn’t be tons of people trying to go too fast on icy freeways.
Snowcrest in the winter time:
I made it to the summit and started back down into Utah County. A milk truck came up on me too fast, hit the brakes and started sliding toward me. The truck bumped me and sent me skidding over the ice. I slid off the side of the road, down an embankment and into a snowdrift.
Miraculously, I wasn’t hurt. I tried to call 911, but my cell phone wasn’t working. The highway patrol came to check out the accident, but between the darkness and the heavy snow falling up on Suncrest, they couldn’t see my car where it was buried. And apparently, the driver of the milk truck hadn’t seen me slide off – he was too busy trying to keep HIS truck from going over the edge. Because of all the snow, I couldn’t open the doors of my car to get out. Luckily, my husband’s sub-zero sleeping bag was still in the back of the car, so I was able to pull it out and stay warm.
My car, buried in snow:
In the morning the sun came up, but nobody saw my car. I was freaking out – my imagination getting the best of me. I ate snow to stay hydrated, and ate food out of the 72 hour emergency kit we keep in our car. I was starting to wonder if I would ever get out, so I rolled down the windows and tried to climb out. It was too deep. I tried instead to sort of dig a trench around my windows, hoping it would make me more visible. My hands were frozen. After a couple of hours I gave up and sat back inside the car, crying. Meanwhile, back at home, my husband was absolutely frantic.
Somebody finally spotted my car this morning and called for help. They dug me out and took me to the hospital, where I was pronounced perfectly healthy and whole – other than a case mild frostbite on two fingers.
It was an exhausting ordeal and I’m incredibly grateful to be back home with my family.
And that’s why I haven’t blogged.
Well, either that, or I just couldn’t think of anything to say and so I didn't blog and then I made up a story to justify my blog-laziness, complete with fake pictures swiped off the internet.
One of those.
So, uh - what's new with you?
P.S. Just to clarify - this did NOT happen. Did. Not. Happen. I'm sorry if anyone was genuinely concerned. I feel like a bit of an idiot now.
Well, I fell for it. Either you're a good storyteller, or I am an idiot. Or both.
ReplyDeleteWait, there are trees up there?
ReplyDeleteAnd holy crap! You had to look through some nasty pictures...
ReplyDeleteNice try. Remember back when you said you were a liar?
ReplyDeleteBut I had a blast along the way.
Teehee.
hm. I like the picture you took of your car.
ReplyDeleteI fell for it, hook, line and sinker! You had me on the edge of my seat!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are o.k. other than a boring life or a case of writer's block!
Hmmm. Washing your mouth out with soap for lying as a child just didn't help at all, did it! (I'm certainly glad this was more of your inventive thinking.)
ReplyDeleteso...ya. I work for a local police department (near you), and all through your story I was freaking out a little, asking all my co-workers WHY DIDN'T I HEAR ABOUT THIS and WHO took the call and WHY was this not passed on in briefing....
ReplyDeleteI really feel like an idiot now. Thanks.
:)
oh, and also. I have never commented on here before.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sorry, cuz I have been reading for about a month, and I know how you feel about this.
Even still, I feel comfortable saying we are now even.
Wait. I had this whole, oh my gosh, I am so glad you alive comment going and then I read the other comments.
ReplyDeleteI am incredibly gullible. So did you or didn't you?
I will cover my bases.
I am SOOOO glad you are alive, (cause you know I think you rock)
And wow, you are a really good story teller!
P.S. With Fix It friday, I just want to use your popularity to spread the word.
And come on, you don't actually have to do anything! You are so creative. Look at the pinata you made for your son's birthday!
I fell for it too. I felt so sorry for you. I was," Oh my goshing through the whole thing."
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story.
Aubrey, - hee hee - that cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteJo - it didn't happen. At all. Those pictures are totally swiped off the net. I've just not been feeling like blogging or reading blogs. (I KNOW! How strange! I must be ill or something.)
Ooooooooooh. You're good.
ReplyDeletePS--if nothing else, you've made me add "make sure car has blankets, food and water" to my to-do list, just in case i fall off a cliff in the middle of winter. even if on false pretense!
ReplyDeleteand what a jerk that milk guy was! seriously? he didn't think about your welfare?
So I totally fell for it. I was thinking, "wow. that's great that she's so good about being prepared. I need to be prepared." Good thing it didn't happen. Now I don't have to worry about putting a 72-hour kit in my car anymore.
ReplyDelete"Thunk, thunk, thunk", that is me throwing things at you through my monitor!
ReplyDeleteRemind you to tell you a little story about the lady who blogged "wolf".
Well, you got me too. :) You had us going there, you know?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you're a good writer! Teehee!
Holy CRAP! You got me!
ReplyDeleteEvil witch. I totally believed you.
ReplyDeleteOh.My.Gawd. You freaked me out!!
ReplyDeleteNow get your butt in gear and go comment on your fans' blogs. We deserve it for the fright you gave us :)
Heidi
You are evil.
ReplyDeleteI almost abandoned my computer mid-story and booked a plane ticket to Utah in case you were still buried in the snow.
E-V-I-L!
IS THAT YOU IN THAT CAR? HALF BURIED BUT YET STILL (LUCKILY) ALIVE? I will send help immediately! I will pray for you and put your name on the temple rolls. For goodness sakes, thank goodness there was a sleeping bag and food storage in your car(see - I KNEW I needed to get that stuff in my car!). Ahem. Phew...and to think I almost didn't have a story to relate tomorrow morning at work about how someone I knew narrowly escaped a horrible accident and yet lived to tell the story. What a relief to have something FUN (I mean horrible) to talk about!
ReplyDeleteAlmost fell for it. I am slightly gullible. Then I remembered that you are a confessed liar.:)
ReplyDeleteYeah, no. It was a great story, though.
ReplyDeletetotally fell for it. although I was chanting "you've got to be kidding me!" in my head - which you were, right?
ReplyDeleteWait--I thought it was real, and that your comments about fake pictures were tongue-in-cheek.
ReplyDeleteConfused, and/or gullible.
I've been feeling like I needed to get the 72 hr kits ready, usable, and in the car.. and after reading your post, I now feel like I REALLY GOTTA DO IT!
ReplyDeleteI was totally freaking out when I read your post, even mentioned it to DH.
But then I read your comments.
You totally rock. Can I just worship you? :)
I just read the story to Derek, showed him the photos, and then told him you made it up. He said he feels so betrayed.
ReplyDeleteI think I am really mad at you. I didn't read the last line of your blog, so until I read the comments, I had to go back and read the end of your post. I was ready to find out where you live and give you a big hug. Well, now I am going to find out where you live and egg your house!! But thanks for the real need to go buy a sub-zero sleeping bag and a 72 hour kit for my car!
ReplyDeleteso i believe it really DID HAPPEN. and you are lieing that it didn't. i'm so glad you're now safe. =)
ReplyDeletexo!
Grr. Next time I hope your fingers fall off. Minx.
ReplyDeleteIs it that I'm a recently new reader of your blog, or that I'm totally gullible?
ReplyDeleteProbably both.
Good story, though
Oh my, you fooled me! Glad you made it through the week okay, all the same.
ReplyDeleteYou had me there for awhile. Glad to know it didn't really happen. Man, you can tell(or write) a really good story.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow. You had me going until I started reading comments. You're terrible. Terrible, I say!
ReplyDeleteYou evil, evil woman. Now I'm going to put a sleeping bag in my car. And I'm not giving you any credit whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI am SO gullible. Here I am reading this, thinking, "Holy shit!!" Guess it serves me right - I screw with other people's gullibility enough. Good one!!
ReplyDeleteOh Mah Holy Hell Girlfriend!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're okay.
Wait. Dude.
Help me out here. I'm gullible, I admit.
Oh man..... you are good!
ReplyDeleteAt first I was concerned. But. It started sounding very unplausible right around "I ate snow to stay hydrated" then came "the 72 hour emergency kit we keep in our car", and your cover was blown when you were going to "dig a trench around (the) windows". But it was a much better excuse for not blogging than "I'm kind of over blogging." So thanks for being entertaining at least.
ReplyDeleteNice! But don't you worry that I do really keep water and a blanket in my car in case something like that happens. But being in AZ the blanket would be to make shade and the water would really be to stay hydrated.
ReplyDeleteTHAT was superb!!
ReplyDeleteYou had me goin'.
You got game.
Move over on the 'she got me' bench. I'm with happygeek! I was so relieved it was fake then I thought oh you sick woman. And this is why I like reading your stuff.
ReplyDeleteHeavens to murgatroid!
ReplyDeleteI was so horrified. And I was glad you were alone, since the only other snowbound story I know is the one about the Donner party.
Then I booed and hissed a bit, you fibber. Shame on you for preying on us innocents.
I just kept thinking... that the most bizarre things happen to you... well- I am glad you made it through and you feel good about pulling our heart strings
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you said you calmly pulled out the sleeping bags and slept in the car, I knew it was one big fat lie.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine there not being a LITTLE bit of drama if that were to happen!
I was wondering how you were able to do all that typing with frostbitten fingers.
ReplyDeleteI was even really impressed that you had a 72 hour emergency kit in your car. (however, if this ever happened to me, I would be able to survive quite nicely on all of the french fries stashed in between the seat cushions in the car)
Now when you really do fall off a cliff, none of us will believe you.
Great story! I even started shivering.
Jill
Milk truck? I don't think I've ever seen one of these driving around Utah Valley- but maybe on the back roads? Good story!
ReplyDeleteAnd I was thinking how amazing you were to comment on my blog right after you got rescued from near death in a snow drift. Still, thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteYou are a lying liar and are SO going to Hell for the scare you gave everyone else but me.
ReplyDeleteMan, I wish I'd thought of this first.
OK, I'm DYING! That is quite a story. I almost believed it but then I remembered that you had commented on my blog yesterday and thought ... wait.
ReplyDeleteSweet ride. I went right along.
ReplyDeletep.s. so that you learn in the future, here are the two things that tipped me off:
ReplyDelete1. Milk truck? At going home from work time? On Suncrest? Winder usually does early mornings, not early evenings.
2. You pulling out the sleeping bag. That's where you completely lost me. If you had included more details on how freaked you were, I maybe would have gone along, but nope.
Constructive criticism on getting your lying to be even better---can't say I'm not supportive!
Well, that's the first time that I've been told I'm not a good enough liar, tee hee. DANG it.
ReplyDeleteP.S. We really DO have a 72 hour emergency kit in our car. It's three years old, but STILL. And I don't have a sub-zero sleeping bag in my car, but my husband does! He has been traveling from SLC to Vegas, back and forth, back and forth through the snow for a few months now, and he brings it along just in case he gets stuck. So - some actual basis in reality there, what do ya know?!
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD.
ReplyDeleteI can't decide if I hate you or if you are going to have to be my new best friend.
I was wondering where you would have gone to the toilet!
ReplyDeleteYou are mean!!! I totally fell for that! I was worried, picturing you terrifird and alone in a frozen car...Meanie!!!
ReplyDeleteNext time I'll try to be less gullible.
That was so NOT NICE! But really...you do have a good imagination. LOL
ReplyDeleteYou're bad, bad, bad. I WAS wondering why you'd bother to blog after going through something like that. You're going to hell!
ReplyDeleteHey, that wasn't nice! :-) I was so worried there and also, so admiring of how brave you were.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, good story. You should totally write some fiction.
Hey, that was NOT nice! But you did have many of us going pretty good!
ReplyDeleteI don't even know why I bother to comment after 62 other comments. Like you even have time to read all of these.
ReplyDeleteBut wow, that was a good one.
You are so going to hell.
ReplyDeleteBut you might get a book deal along the way. Sweet story.
The spelling of my name needs to be changed to G-U-L-L-I-B-L-E!
ReplyDeleteseriously Sue, if I didn't know better I would spank you and send you to bed without dinner.
ReplyDeleteI only wondered about the veracity when you mentioned the sleeping bag and 72-hour kit. But in Utah with all of those prepared-for-anything Mormon folk that could actually happen. We might have a blanket in our trunk...
ReplyDeletewell, you had some of us worried. us gullible ones, I guess.
ReplyDeleteso not funny!
You totally fooled me. Even until I read these comments, I thought you'd been stranded. And I was all about to be impressed with the sub-zero sleeping bag and 72-hour kit you had in your car. Wow!
ReplyDeleteyou suck
ReplyDeleteAnd here I was, whipping up a batch of hot chocolate to rush over to you! I guess I'll just have to drink it all myself...Mmmmm...
ReplyDeleteSue! That was cruel! ~lol~ I was getting all teary over how frantic you must have been!
ReplyDeleteaughh! I had tears in my eyes reading that, thinking of you going through that. YOU BIG BULLY! LOL My heart is still racing a bit after reading that. so mean!!!!!!! lol
ReplyDeleteOkay - are you serious?
ReplyDeleteHey - thanks for coming over and leaving the well wishes - I am fine - only need to remember about that bra thing the next time I ever have to call 911. Hope to see you tomorrow. Kellan
Add my name to the list of people who totally bought it!
ReplyDeleteYou are the best blogger EVER! I wish I knew you...I think we share the same sick sense of humor!
ReplyDeleteYou really are a good liar. Wow. That was good.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had thought of it first...Of course I could steal it but here in North Alabama I'm not sure that anyone would fall for it.
Hmmm...can you make something up for me??? Like without snow...but somthing believable like maybe a mountain lion or something? HAHAHAHAHAHA
LOL!! That was sooo awesome!
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing the picture of the car in the snow, I was actually thinking that you finally got reception off the side of the mountain, and were blogging via your blackberry to kill the time, lol!
Ugh, you're such a stinker. But I am TOTALLY not one to judge - I pretended to barf in my FIL's new car over Christmas break just for kicks. I like me a good practical joke, and boy are you a joker! Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I started to get mildly concerned and then thought, NO WAY....well thank goodness you were kidding...YIKES.
ReplyDeleteYea, fell for that one hook, line and sinker! I was all like, wow she is so brave and how scary... her poor husband and kids had to be so worried... then BAM... LIE!
ReplyDeleteGreat story!!!! :-)
I would have loved to hear your excuses for not having your homework when you were in school. Did you know something like that happened to a lady about a year or so ago, I heard it on the news, she went off the freeway into a canal or something and couldn't get out because she already had a broken leg from something else and couldn't wade out in her cast. :) SO maybe it's not a bad idea to have stuff in your car after all!
ReplyDeleteI fell for it! Thanks a lot!!
ReplyDeleteFirst time to your site (via Love Well) and this is the post I decide to read! Then I also read how I can't NOT comment or you'll die. ;-) So, commenting.
ReplyDeleteWe just found out two days ago that we are moving to Minot ND and I am freaked about the snow....glad to know this was a story!!! hahaha! ;-) Although a very real possibility. Don't even know you and I was a bit panicked!
Kudos to you!
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ReplyDeleteYou little jerk. What a story though! You are a great story teller. Did you come up with this one on one of your extra drives around the block?
ReplyDeleteNow I know where the dog gets the evil from.
ReplyDeleteWhat's very sad is that this story is feasible, other than the milk truck, because this just happened to several people between Eagle Mountain and Lehi. Of course, in that case it was actually real, and the woman was 8 months pregnant, so there was a legitimate reason to be concerned.
ReplyDeleteI was totally buying it until you had the picture of your buried car. I was like, "Who took this picture? Did they take it BEFORE they dug her out cause that just seems cruel."
ReplyDeleteI liked it. WAY better than just posting, "Sorry I haven't written in so long! I'll try to be better!" That reads way too much like my journal.