Jeepy vs. Big Granite Mountain
April 2, 2000
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This is NOT a Jeep doing an Elvis impression!
This is the story of what happens when a valiant little Jeep tries to save
its owner from the effects of ramming head on into a wall
of granite mountain at 35 or 40 MPH!
Jeepy is a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. The nice people ast
Morse Evergreen Auto Body are going to make Jeepy like new again... soon
we hope. I hated the 2000 Mitsubishi Montero I got as a rental, even
if it WAS green like Jeepy... or nearly like Jeepy. I got the nice
rental people to find me a Jeep today and its even a Grand Cherokee, but
it is just a Laredo and it isn't green. The sound system is not much,
but better than the Montero.
What Happened
I was driving home from Denver on Sunday, April 1 at about 5:15 PM.
The weather had started out gloriously sunny in the morning but by lunchtime
it was gloomy and snowing that slushy stuff, not the real Colorado powder
snow. The roads were getting worse and as you might know, the higher
you get in elevation, the colder it gets. So as I ascended the mountain,
the road was getting worse.
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Right after I got past the last S-curve on US Route 285, I relaxed a little and
pulled into the passing lane as I passed Parmalee Gulch Road. Suddenly,
just as I was thinking how much the Snow
Dog would enjoy being able to play in the snow when I got home and started
to turn my mind to what to pack for my weekend in Las Vegas, I felt the car start
to slide uncontrollably to the left and into the turning lane for the turn to
Tiny Town. I thought I was going to go nose down into the ditch inthe median
and flip over or roll into the oncoming traffic. Then the car did an abrupt
180 turn and went right across two lanes of traffic and headed for the wall of
granite that is the mountain right there. Will I ever forget the sight of
that black wall with a pink diagonal stripe through it? I don't think so!
I had never been in a car accident. I remember thinking that everyone I
knew who had been in a car accident spent all their time going to Physical Therapy
and I thought, "I'm never going to be as well again as I am right this minute!"
A second later, I heard a crunching and Jeepy came to a rest with its nose buried
in the mountain. I was pretty astonished that I was okay. I couldn't
believe that no cars had hit me as I slid across two lanes of fast-moving traffic.
Two girls in a pickup truck had spun out just in front of me and a paramedic
was going home and saw it happen. They all came to see if I was okay
and then they called the cops and a tow truck. I rooted around and
found my own cell phone which had been in the console cup holder and was
eventually found under the driver's seat. A state cop came and gave
me an accident report and no tickets. He kept giving me these strange
looks and saying he was just glad I was ok. I called Ron, my mom,
and my friend, Patty, while I waited. I think five nice people stopped
to see if I needed help, a ride, a cell phone, or just company! Eventually
Long Brothers Towing came and towed me away. I got a bad bruise slipping
as I got into the tow truck and that is the only thing wrong with me that
you can see.
When I saw Jeepy two days later in the sunshine, I knew why tge trooper kept
giving me those looks. I was lucky to be alive! A well-made car
(even if the airbags did NOT deploy and it did jump out of 4 High) and a big
pile of soft old snow to slow the vehicle down saved me from serious injury
or worse! Jeepy got a big kiss right there in front of Mrs. Long (who
laughed) and the Rottweiler guard dog (who just smiled in that Rottie way they
do)!
The damages are nearly $7000! I'm pretty shook up and have some
joint pain, probably from bracing myself. I started physical therapy
for that today and I think I will be okay in a couple of weeks. I
might be better before poor Jeepy is! :(
The
Mountain
It looks so benign, doesn't it? When wet, it looked huge, black,
and ominous with that pink stripe running across it! A pile of old
snow where the grass is now, is what saved me from worse injury, I think.
