Wichitawful Weather

On Friday, my Spring Break FINALLY started. I had been waiting for this time away from student teaching for awhile! Originally, I was planning on just staying in Omaha and sleeping in, relaxing, and doing absolutely nothing, but my sister Amanda and I decided to go to Wichita to visit my other sister Jackie. Well, Amanda got to Wichita on Friday but I couldn't head down until Saturday morning. I had heard warnings of weather problems, but wasn't too concerned.

Saturday morning, I woke up at 5 am, was out the door and on the road by 5:30 and was on my way to Kansas. Well, all the way through Nebraska, the weather wasn't too bad. Cold and windy, but nothing too severe. Literally, as I crossed the state border into Kansas, mother nature turned a 180. It was SEVERE winds, with rain/sleet/snow, and ICE on EVERYTHING. At one point, I was going 30 in a 70. I was being really careful the entire way.

Once I passed through Topeka, I got onto the new highway I needed to transfer to. I was on the highway for about 10 or 15 minutes, weather still SUCKING, when a semi in the right lane started merging into the left... right next to where I was driving. If I hadn't braked, that semi would have slammed me right into the median. I braked, hit ice, started swerving, then lost control, spun around a couple times, and ended up in a ditch on the right hand side of the highway... in a foot of slush and mud.

It was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. Luckily, after waiting an hour and a half for AAA to come rescue me, they pulled me out of the mud, looked at my car, and didn't see very much damage. I was able to continue my drive to Wichita, still able to see my sisters. I am so thankful this incident wasn't more serious than it was. I am thankful that there wasn't a car in the lane next to me or that the semi didn't actually hit me. I am thankful that I am okay and that I was able to see my sisters this past weekend. Gosh... I am going to be WAY more careful about when I travel from now on... Any sign of weather hazards and I'm staying where I'm at.