Return Home – Good News and Bad News

We got back home safely on Friday from our trip to Seagrove, Colonial Williamsburg, and Mount Vernon. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that my 3-month old red Outback didn’t fare too well. While going 70 mph, it had a tangle with a Virginia interstate guard rail. The guard rail won. We weren’t injured and no other vehicles were involved, thankfully. My car is torn up and crushed from the front bumper to the back bumper on the drivers’ side. Hubby was driving and still doesn’t understand how it happened. He felt the steering wheel pull to the left, but we don’t know if it was weather conditions (blowing snow and wind) or the roadway that caused it. I was reading and abruptly heard the terrible crunching sound. The doors don’t close well and some of the interior frame is dented too. But we were able to drive it home.

So our Christmas vacation ended on a sad and upsetting note. We’re just counting our blessings because we could have easily been severely injured or killed. Material possessions such as a car can be replaced or fixed. The important thing is that we are okay physically. Mentally, it’s going to take a while to get over the fright!

I already have filed a claim with my insurance company and I’ll be dropping little miss red off at a body shop tomorrow morning. I hope that it can be fixed up. If not, I’ll get another one later on.

It’s going to take me a bit to get some vacation and Christmas pictures pulled together for you. We have the usual after-vacation frenzy of tasks to complete: unpacking, mail sorting, laundry, grocery shopping, and digital downloading. We unwrapped all of the Seagrove pottery pieces earlier this afternoon and none of it got damaged in the accident. We got some really pretty keepsakes! Yes, yes, I’ll be taking pictures of those too. Ah, my to-do list is pretty long this week. I’m glad I got the decorating and Christmas cards done before we left home!