Sunday, June 22, 2008

Weekend O' Fun

Ben's family invited us to go to Atlanta, Ga. for a little weekend at the lake. Ben and I decided that it would be fun to make it a road trip. Only 12 hours there and another 12 hours back- how bad could it be? We also decided that we should rent a mini van for this trip because it gets better gas mileage and we didn't really want to put the miles on our cars. So Wednesday morning I pick up the van. I opted not to get the insurance and spent an excessive amount of time looking around the car making sure to write down every last bump and scrape on the car so that we can't be blamed for anything. I spend all day packing and getting everything ready to go. Clothes, check. Toys, check, Movies, check. And food, check. We are off. It is 4:30 pm and very trafficy. About 6 miles out of our neighborhood BAM! We end up in a 5 car pile up. We are car number 4. The car behind us never hit their brakes. It was very scary. It took a minute for it all to sink in. Cali and Macey were a bit hysterical and I had to actually yell at them to calm down for them to realize we were all ok. We all get out of the car and wait for the police to arrive. Did I mention that it was 95 degrees outside? 50 minutes later (yes, 5-0) the police show up and get everything sorted out. The lady in front of us has no driver's license, no insurance, and did not speak English. This should be fun for the insurance companies to settle. I was figuring our trip was over at this point but the nice people at Avis tell me they will send another van to the house and sure enough by the time we got home there was another van waiting for us. We re-pack the new van. It is 8 pm now as we give this tip another whirl. Just a few hours behind schedule. So we're driving along and things are going great. The kids are sleeping and I am full of energy because I think I am still on an adrenalin rush from the accident. What else could go wrong, right? Well at 10 1/2 hours into the trip I decide to pull over and let Ben drive the rest of the way. I'm feeling a little bit sleepy. We stop in Lincoln, Alabama. It is a tiny town with one gas station. We get out and let the kids go to the bathroom. As we are putting the kids back in Ben lifts the back of the van up to put something away. Next thing I know he is walking to the front of the van with his hands covering his head and blood is just GUSHING from under his hands. He says he hit his head and it is pretty bad and we need to call someone. I run in the gas station and tell them to call an ambulance. Ben is ghostly white and about to pass out. He sits down and I hand him Fletcher's t-shirt to stop the bleeding. He bleeds through that in seconds. The ladies inside the gas station come out with a towel and he is able to get some good pressure on his head. There is blood everywhere- all over his face and down his arms, down his legs, puddles on the ground. I have never seen this much blood. The girls are freaked out. I am freaked out. Ben is freaked out. It takes the ambulance 15 minutes to show up. They look at his head and tell us that he has a pretty big wound and needs to go to the hospital to have it looked at. The hospital is 8 miles back down the road. To save a little money I opt to take him there myself. So now we are sitting in this tiny hospital in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. I call Ben's mom to come get us. He goes back to get worked on while the kids and I try to eat some breakfast that consisted of red bull and M&Ms. Luckily we beat the rush in the ER and it only took an hour for Ben to get his head stapled shut. Apparently there is a really sharp corner on the back of the van and he hit it just right and really hard. This is a picture of the damage:
It's a little hard to see the staples but trust me- they're disgusting.

So Ben's parents meet us to help us drive the rest of the way. I have never been so happy to see two people in my whole life. We actually had a fun trip once we got there. And the drive home was incident free. Unless you count Cali throwing up once and Fletcher peeing in his car seat incidences. I must say I am happy to be home. And I'm pretty sure there will not be another road trip in the near future.

7 comments:

Beardall Family said...

Prayers are answered! You are home safe and sound. If you blow up the picture you can see the staples. Yes, they are gross. Sorry Ben! How do they do that anyway...a staple gun pounding into your head? Ouch. Shar, I hope your neck is feeling better too.

redstarmama said...

Yikes! That sounds like a nightmare movie! I'm glad everyone is now ok, and you're all home in one piece, thanks to the nasty staples. Next time you need to travel, please fly. And Justin and I are waiting to hear the rest of the California coast cycling saga, when you get a chance.

S.Miles said...

If the people on this cruise boat needed one more reason to think I'm crazy- I'm fairly certain me sitting at this community computer laughing out loud with tears streaming down my face sort of seals the deal dont you think? Even though I knew every detail already- just hearing it again made me laugh! This is so funny and yet- so typical. Man, I miss you and I'm so glad you are part of my family. If you weren't, it would seem really mean to laugh- but since we are blood- I'm laughing from head to toe WITH you! :P I can't wait to be home and off this damn (sorry mom) boat so we can talk numerous times a day about nothing important! I saw something in a Greek magazine about Brit Brit and I was DYING to call you and ask you what the deal was. Love you and miss you!!

Unknown said...

You guys--
I can't believe this all happened in just one family outing!! Is everyone traumatized enough? Our prayers go out to all of you!

Robbie said...

Since I'm an honorary memebr I'll let you know that I was laughing also WITH you even though you already told me all the details. Glad ur back home safe!

Jennifer Knight said...

OUCH! Glad everyone is on the mend, it sounds like.

Justin said...

New Post time, Huh?