Driving to Colorado Springs...

After parting ways with the dragon I was in a somber mood but I was excited to get to Colorado Springs to see Nick, a shipmate of mine from my time in the Navy. I had a five hour drive to get there but a portion of I-70 was closed due to a winter storm that caused an avalanch - so I detoured onto HWY 24. It was quite congested for the first few hours with the additional I-70 traffic but right as the traffic cleared the road conditions became worse. I'd guess there was around a few feet of snow everywhere - and the strong winds were blowing the loose snow across the road; creating patches of ice scattered about.

By 8:30 I had made it to about 50 miles outside of Colorado Springs when I drove across a bridge that was iced over. The white rhino is only a 2WD - powered by its rear wheels which is less than ideal for driving on the ice. The drivers side rear wheel lost traction as I crossed the bridge and the passenger side wheel powered me into a slide at 50MPH. I would have been able to recover if I had the luxery of using both lanes - but as fate would have it I was on a collision course with the truck approaching in the west bound lane. I was boxed in by the rails of the bridge - and to avoid a lights out game over head on crash I plowed thru the last portion of the barrier - the air bags deployed and the impact crushed the front tire and rim, but thank God I missed the other vehicle. The white rhino plowed thru the snow losing momemtum until it came to a safe rest off the side of the road. I was in shock - but injury free.

A few witnesses to the accident stopped and asked if I was alright - and I used the last bit of my phone's battery calling 911. Further inspection revealed my cell phone charger was damaged in the crash. The next hour was spent in a fire truck waiting for the police and tow truck to arrive. I was in the middle of nowhere...

Bob - the nicest tow truck driver one could hope to meet - dropped me off at the Riverside Inn - 20 miles further away from my eventual destination. The nearest car rental location was 30 miles away - and even though Enterprises slogan is "We'll pick you up" - it only applies to people within 10 miles. I shined my thumb and landed a ride with none other than Bob the tow truck driver. At Enterprise I was given the keys to a Pontiac G6 and soon found myself pondering how I'd be able to fit all of the contents of the white rhino in a car... not to mention the kayak... which I eventually had to abandon there at the tow yard.

At least I was finally back on the road - and though Nick told me it would only be a 5 hour drive from Moab, Utah - with the accident it took me 28...

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