Jesus, Take the Wheel

I never imagined yesterday when I was leaving my office a little before 1 p.m. that I wouldn't get home until after 1 a.m. When I initially left the office, I went to my car and sat in the same exact spot for almost an hour before giving up and going back into my office.  An hour later, I tried again and the streets were not quite as gridlocked as they were during my first attempt.  When I went back to my car at 3 p.m., I was able to drive straight to the bottom of the deck and exit out onto the street in just a few minutes.  In less than ten minutes, I was on the connector headed northbound.  This first part of the trip was totally fine.

I see a lot of people online talking about how awful Southerners are driving in the snow.  When I was on the connector, the snow was falling pretty heavy, but the roads were perfectly fine.  People were driving cautiously.  The roads were so congested, we were all going slowly.  I didn't seen anyone driving like a maniac in the snow.  We were all just scooting along like any other rush hour in Atlanta.  It took me about an hour and a half to get to I-285 and off onto the surface streets to my house.  That is where the nightmare began for me.  I guess I was lucky in that I-85N didn't have any accidents.  I really think it is because the roads weren't icy at that point.  There was snow accumulating, but not really sticking because of all the traffic.  When the sun went down and the temperatures plummeted, the roads started icing over quickly and that is when things got bad.

When I turned on to Buford Highway, things slowed down, but it wasn't until I made the turn onto Jones Mill Road to head towards Holcomb Bridge Road that things basically began to creep.  It was four hours later when I made it to the QT and decided to take a pit stop.  I'm so glad I did or I likely would have burst before I made it home.  What I know now is that there was a truck overturned on Holcomb Bridge Road that basically meant no one was ever going to be able to take that road.  It would have been nice to know there was an accident ahead to avoid that road totally, but I am guessing the hundreds of accidents in the metro area were too much to track online.

We were moving at a rate of .2 miles an hour.  While I sat on Jones Mill Road, the hours were ticking by and I was amazed to see school buses dropping off kids after 8 p.m.  This is when the roads started to get pretty treacherous for me.  At the top of the road before turning on to Holcomb Bridge Road, the road was covered in ice and I got stuck on a patch of ice trying to get up the last bit of hill before the intersection.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  All these cars were passing me and I was sitting there feeling a bit helpless.  Then, two teenagers, a guy and girl, offered to push my car for me and I was able to get off the ice and turn on to Holcomb Bridge Road.

In hindsight, I wish I had gone straight across as I had been contemplating earlier, but I tend to think that everything happens for a reason.  (I read online later that the road I eventually ended up taking had a number of accidents earlier in the night.)  In the next four hours, I would go less than a mile.  I was amusing myself by checking in on Facebook and following friends who were trying to get home as well.  About hour seven, I started to get a little overwhelmed by the whole situation and shed a few tears.  It was so frustrating inching along.  I was on the phone with my sister, Mary, who was telling me that where I was headed was "red" on google maps.  It was very disheartening to learn I was in the "orange" area considering how little movement there was on the road.

It was around 11 p.m. when I was approaching the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Spaulding Drive.  I had already decided that I was going to try to get home a different way by detouring down Spaulding Drive and eventually hooking up to Peachtree Parkway.  At one point, I tried to cut through a parking lot to get onto Spaulding Drive. Unfortunately, there was a hill and I couldn't get my car over the hill.  I got to the top and was stuck.  Then I started sliding backwards and ended up putting the car in reverse and going back down the hill and into the traffic again.  For the longest time, I was just a few cars from the turn on to Spaulding.  There were two teenagers that were walking down the street handing out bottled water and granola bars.  They shared with me the news of the overturned truck ahead and solidified my resolve to attempt a detour home.

At midnight, I was finally able to turn right onto Spaulding Drive!  When I turned and was able to hit 20 mph, I felt like I was flying.  I tried to continue straight on Spaulding to Peachtree Parkway, but the road was covered in a thick sheet of ice and it was difficult to get any traction.  There were two cars stuck in the ice.  For awhile, I was sliding on the road and finally ended up on the curb.  I sat there for a minute seriously praying that I could get out.  Eventually, I was able to get the car in reverse and go back towards Peachtree Corners.  The road was icy, but I was able to move slowly along it until I could almost see the turn onto Peachtree Parkway.  At this point, I hit a patch of ice and the car started spinning around the road.  I couldn't even figure out where to steer or what direction I was even headed at this point.  My goal was to just stop the car from spinning and sliding because just ahead of me was a car facing me in my lane.  My heart was racing a mile a minute when I finally slammed the car into the curb and stopped it from sliding down the hill into the SUV in front of me. I just sat there for awhile afraid to try to go again because I didn't want to end up in a head on collision with the SUV.  I don't even know how long it was before the SUV was able to get off the ice and out of my way.

When the SUV finally moved, I eased back into the road, sliding a bit, but still making forward progress.  I was really nervous at this point because hills were difficult for my little Civic and I had to go uphill before I could get on Peachtree Parkway.  The road was covered in ice, but I eventually made it on to Peachtree Parkway.  From here, I was basically home free. I think Johns Creek had put something out on the roads.  I was able to take Peachtree Parkway to State Bridge Road to Jones Bridge Road without any major incident.  There were still a number of cars on the road, but everyone was being cautious.

When I finally made it to our subdivision, the intersection was totally iced over.  For those who have been to my house, you know how hilly our street it.  I made it to the first stop sign, but couldn't get my car to go up the hill at that intersection.  I decided I was done with driving and would just walk home.  I wanted to be home so badly.  I parked the car on a side street and started walking home.  I had a tearful moment when I got out of the car.  My legs were so sore from sitting for so long.  I was so happy to know that I was just a short walk from home.  I called Brian to let him know that I was in the neighborhood and he said he'd come meet me.  It was cold outside and my teeth were chattering in no time.  I was thankful that my walk was short compared to people who walked miles.  I've never been so happy to be home.  It was about 1:15 a.m. when I made it to our house.

While I still feel a bit traumatized by the whole experience, I am incredibly thankful that I was able to make it home safely.  I sincerely appreciated all the prayers and words of encouragement from friends and family on Facebook and over text message.  It kept my spirits up and I felt all the love from everyone. It is really exhausting and overwhelming to experience something like this and have no control over your situation.  What is hard to explain to people not stuck in the situation is that there really wasn't an option to seek shelter somewhere.  It wasn't like I could decide that since Target or Home Depot were taking in people that I would just go there instead. The traffic was absolutely gridlocked.  I had about the same chance of getting to shelter as I did to getting home.  I would have had to abandon my car and walk a good distance to get somewhere taking in people.  If I abandoned my car, I would be further adding to the travel problems on the roads.

Overall, I was really proud of the people around me in traffic and the strangers who were willing to help me out.  I guess we all realized the severity of the situation and were trying to do the best we could to get home. For those still dealing with the craziness, I pray they get home.  For now, I'm enjoying sitting in front of the fireplace and I can't get "Jesus, Take the Wheel" out of my head!