So the stats say that most car accidents occur within (give or take a few) a mile from the driver’s home. But what about the driver’s hotel room? We would consider that a “home” when you’re away from home…. and guess what? We were about a mile or so from our hotel when we had OUR accident. Yep, an accident while on vacation. Bummer.
It happened on the 28th. We left Arkansas real early in the morning, and headed out to Branson so we’d have pretty much all day there. All the way there it rained. Horrible torrential downpours. We were bummed at the likelihood of having to see Branson from our car since it was raining so bad. But after driving around for awhile, having lunch at Steak n’ Shake (our first time, which was fabulous!) and being soaked to the bone from our run from the car to the restaurant, the weather started shaping up. (It was raining SOOO hard that we literally missed our turn. However, had we turned, we would have missed the Steak n' Shake 100 yards past the turn). So, we went to our hotel, checked in, and set out to see the rest of the sights. That’s when the “fun” began…. We were heading down the green route towards the old historic Branson, when we got to one of the steepest hills we’ve ever seen on a street. The events after this are a little foggy for the both of us, but what we do remember is skidding and sliding (no skid marks though) straight downhill for about 35-40 feet and ramming into the back of the people in front of us. We thought we were dreaming….. 12+ hours from home, strangers to a new city, and a wrecked car. We hit an SUV (tall rear-bumper) and crinkled our hood and busted the radiator. Their rear-bumper cleared our front bumper by about an inch. Had their bumper hit ours, the airbags would have deployed (much more $$). Also, we hit them straight on and the driver-side headlamp was destroyed, but the passenger side was left completely intact and untouched. Well, once we established that everyone was OK, we pulled into a nearby parking lot and started exchanging information (in the meantime, there was an accident just prior to ours and one just after ours on the same hill. Not to mention the 12-15 other cars we noticed slipping and spinning their tires trying to get up the hill while we were standing in the parking lot). This was just about the time that God stepped in and started helping us in a way unimaginable. Our car was obviously not drivable with a busted radiator, so our first line of action was to call a tow truck and find a rental car. We had no way of getting to a rental car place (except walking, of course), so the people we hit (we will call them the “R’s” since he is a Doctor and might not want his personal information spread all over the place) graciously offered us a ride to the rental car place up the road a mile or so. We got to the rental car place 3 hours after they closed, and they weren’t open on Sunday’s. So we went to a nearby gas station and called every other rental car place in Branson and got the same response. The only other option was the car rental places at the airport in Springfield….. 30+ miles away. We had a sick feeling in the pits of our stomachs about how much that taxi would cost, but there was really nothing we could do about that. But once again, the R’s so graciously said that they would take us to the airport to pick up a rental car. WOW! We hit them and they do all they can to help us, what’s up with that? =) Long story short, they took exceptional care of us and made sure that all of our ducks were in a row before they left us alone. They even offered their house (and lake house) for us to stay in so we wouldn’t have to pay more for a hotel since we could already see our vacation was costing more than we anticipated. ;) Again, WOW! We were also instructed to call if we needed any help and to let them know when we made it home safe. (Through the process of getting to know them, we found out they were Christians! We don't know how we would have done it if it wasn't for their help.) Even the owners of the hotel we stayed at were kind enough to drop the rates for us because of this ordeal (they were Christians too!), and the guy at the car repair shop charged us only for 3 hours of labor instead of 4….. blessings are flying all over the place here! We truly were blessed all around in this situation (mostly with not being seriously hurt) and even made some new friends out of the deal! Who would have ever thought……
So for those of you who were left out of the loop, that was how our vacation ended. (We’ve spared you a LOT of the little details) It’s been a really long couple of days (mentally and physically), but we’re home safe now. We’re not sure if Branson Missouri is a place for us. ;)
It happened on the 28th. We left Arkansas real early in the morning, and headed out to Branson so we’d have pretty much all day there. All the way there it rained. Horrible torrential downpours. We were bummed at the likelihood of having to see Branson from our car since it was raining so bad. But after driving around for awhile, having lunch at Steak n’ Shake (our first time, which was fabulous!) and being soaked to the bone from our run from the car to the restaurant, the weather started shaping up. (It was raining SOOO hard that we literally missed our turn. However, had we turned, we would have missed the Steak n' Shake 100 yards past the turn). So, we went to our hotel, checked in, and set out to see the rest of the sights. That’s when the “fun” began…. We were heading down the green route towards the old historic Branson, when we got to one of the steepest hills we’ve ever seen on a street. The events after this are a little foggy for the both of us, but what we do remember is skidding and sliding (no skid marks though) straight downhill for about 35-40 feet and ramming into the back of the people in front of us. We thought we were dreaming….. 12+ hours from home, strangers to a new city, and a wrecked car. We hit an SUV (tall rear-bumper) and crinkled our hood and busted the radiator. Their rear-bumper cleared our front bumper by about an inch. Had their bumper hit ours, the airbags would have deployed (much more $$). Also, we hit them straight on and the driver-side headlamp was destroyed, but the passenger side was left completely intact and untouched. Well, once we established that everyone was OK, we pulled into a nearby parking lot and started exchanging information (in the meantime, there was an accident just prior to ours and one just after ours on the same hill. Not to mention the 12-15 other cars we noticed slipping and spinning their tires trying to get up the hill while we were standing in the parking lot). This was just about the time that God stepped in and started helping us in a way unimaginable. Our car was obviously not drivable with a busted radiator, so our first line of action was to call a tow truck and find a rental car. We had no way of getting to a rental car place (except walking, of course), so the people we hit (we will call them the “R’s” since he is a Doctor and might not want his personal information spread all over the place) graciously offered us a ride to the rental car place up the road a mile or so. We got to the rental car place 3 hours after they closed, and they weren’t open on Sunday’s. So we went to a nearby gas station and called every other rental car place in Branson and got the same response. The only other option was the car rental places at the airport in Springfield….. 30+ miles away. We had a sick feeling in the pits of our stomachs about how much that taxi would cost, but there was really nothing we could do about that. But once again, the R’s so graciously said that they would take us to the airport to pick up a rental car. WOW! We hit them and they do all they can to help us, what’s up with that? =) Long story short, they took exceptional care of us and made sure that all of our ducks were in a row before they left us alone. They even offered their house (and lake house) for us to stay in so we wouldn’t have to pay more for a hotel since we could already see our vacation was costing more than we anticipated. ;) Again, WOW! We were also instructed to call if we needed any help and to let them know when we made it home safe. (Through the process of getting to know them, we found out they were Christians! We don't know how we would have done it if it wasn't for their help.) Even the owners of the hotel we stayed at were kind enough to drop the rates for us because of this ordeal (they were Christians too!), and the guy at the car repair shop charged us only for 3 hours of labor instead of 4….. blessings are flying all over the place here! We truly were blessed all around in this situation (mostly with not being seriously hurt) and even made some new friends out of the deal! Who would have ever thought……
So for those of you who were left out of the loop, that was how our vacation ended. (We’ve spared you a LOT of the little details) It’s been a really long couple of days (mentally and physically), but we’re home safe now. We’re not sure if Branson Missouri is a place for us. ;)
Front view. Ouch!
Bummer.....
The R's car. They were luckier than we were!
Historic Downtown Branson. Fun little place to walk around!
Branson Landing.
Here we are! Branson Landing.
Water and fire show at Branson Landing.
The fountains at Branson Landing.
Going to the famous "Lambert's" for lunch! It was AMAZING!
Greg and his DP..... and his big ol' southern lunch in a frying pan. =)
THE Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. It was awesome!
The Car all "fixed" and ready to come home.
Going home at last. Whew!
P.S. We finally posted pics from Tunica, the Reunion and our other Arkansas adventures. Take a look!!
4 comments:
Awww! The poor saturn! Glad you guys made it home safe though! Looking forward to this weekend.
I am so glad you guys were being watched after !!! I have missed you very much .. can't wait to see you .. Are you sore ? (let me know so i don't hug you to hard)LOL
Glad you are both ok..
oh my word honey - i'm glad you guys are ok and that's amazing you were being surrounded by loving Christians for this drama! your last couple of weeks have been quite exciting haven't they? lol even w/ the monotony of "normal" life i would imagine you're looking forward to it at least a little to recover from all your adventures!
Wow!!! I am so glad you are OK! It is sad that happened to you there. I am so jealous of you guys eating at LAMBERTS!!! One of my favorite Places to eat. As a kid we went to Branson every summer and stayed in a cabin.Sherri and I have been there several times. We love it there. That is why it is so sad that this happened to you. There is so many fun things to do there. It is awesome how God surrounded you with people to take care of you.
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