Dude's car got a little dinged up...
So, Sunday evening ended with me seeking refuge from the storm in a cheap hotel in Seward, Nebraska. On Monday morning, I set off on what appeared to be a drier and much safer interstate. Appearances proved wrong.
About 40 miles west of Des Moines, Iowa, the seek fun mobile passed onto a patch of black ice. The next 12 seconds were an incredible ride. The back end of the truck drifted right toward the shoulder. I counter-steered and managed to get control of the truck, but it was facing 45 degrees across the lane. It shot like a canon ball across both east-bound lanes, through the 6 foot deep, snow-filled ditch in the middle, and up and across both west-bound lanes (and this is where it gets interesting). While crossing the west-bound lanes, I got to maneuver the seek fun mobile around the separated tractor and trailer of a semi truck that had capsized. Having successfully maneuvered the truck around this obstacle, I rode down into the HUGE ditch on the west-bound side of I-80 and came to rest (with my skiing helmet now laying in my lap).
Slapping the truck into 4-wheel drive, I drove out of the ditch, across the west-bound lanes and back onto the east-bound lanes via an emergency turnaround. Then, the low-tire-pressure light illuminated on the dash. I pulled over and discovered that the front, passenger-side tire had not endured the excitement so well.
There's nothing quite as enjoyable as changing a tire and removing large patches of mud and grass from beneath a vehicle in 8-degree temperatures on the side of a black-ice covered interstate. I am presently chilled to the bone and have sought refuge in yet another cheap hotel, this one in West Des Moines, Iowa. Someday I will return home, perhaps a little scathed from my endeavor.
seek fun,
topher
