Things That Go Crunch

Although Disneyland was way fun....I had a few problems with the drive home. Right outside out LA we got into an accident with a Jaguar. Yep, I sure know how to pick them! I feel like I have to tell the story to everyone to justify the fact that I'm not a terrible driver. I drive faster than the speed limit most of the time but I've always been a very proficient vehicle operator.
Story is: We were going up a hill on the freeway and I was going probably 25 miles less than the speed limit. It had been stop and go crazy Cali traffic so I was being careful. The hill was blocking my view of the cars in front of me UNTIL I reached the top and saw that they had stopped. I tried to brake but my car just slid into the back of the Jag. I don't know if this is lucky but because I hit the car in front of me, I pushed us forward and the car behind us barely avoided a collision with us. Unfortunately, my siblings were sleeping and were jerked awake by the crash. They were a little sore but nothing serious. I, however, got the short end of the stick with my defective seat belt.
As soon as we crashed I learned that my car and ribs had something in common...they both crunch! I stumbled out of the car, barely able to breathe, and exchanged info.

Here is my car: 

Here is the other:

Yeah, barely any damage. That thing is a tank!

(Like how I scrambled her plate?)

My new bffs at Auto Zone in Diamond Bar tied my bumper onto the front of my car and the hood down to keep it from coming up. It then looked like this:

It felt like it took an eternity to get home, especially when we went 40  miles out of the way in the wrong direction. We didn't know how the car would run and I killed the AC so we had to frequently stop and let it cool off. At 1:30 ish in the morning we were just outside of Goodyear and my hood all the sudden went flying up to where I could barely see. It reminded me a little of one of my favorite movie scenes....

I hurry and woke my sis up and got off onto the side of the road. One of the ropes had snapped and the rest of the rope was loose. I tied it back on but it needed to be re-in-forced. I had more rope but nothing to cut it with....except a pair of tweezers. I spent about 20 mins tearing each individual thread until I ripped it apart. Here I am at work: 

I tied it down, and made it to a rest stop, where a nice trucker gave me two rubber bungees. We finally rolled into Mesa at 3:30 am. 

The next day I took care of some business, and decided that my friend, Russell, and I needed to head back to  Utah. We left at about 3 pm. We learned very quickly that 2 bungees wouldn't hold a hood on the freeway and had to stop and get 4 more. We slowly made our way North, stopping more than anyone would like to. We didn't have air conditioning and it was 110 degrees! We made it to Kanab at 2 am when one of my back tires blew out. Luckily some construction workers changed it to my tiny spare donut tire and we were forced to stay the night in a motel. We slept 4 hours, got up early and bought 2 new tires, and headed out. We made it home a little after 1 pm, just in time for work at 2. 

I honestly was waiting for a door to fall off or my car to catch on fire but my car made it through. I'm so grateful Russell was there to help me laugh my head off through the entire ridiculous journey. Although it was the road trip from hell, I have never laughed so hard and so much in my life.(That's how I tend to deal with stressful situations). This trip was one for the books for so many reasons. Little honda and I are home and I'm currently searching for a new car. I can't wait to have more adventures in my new car...hopefully nothing so awful and epic as this one.... but I guess I have to keep life interesting one way or another.