Well it finally happened to us. The kind of thing you hear about on the news and that only happens to someone else.
We are currently staying in Silverton, Oregon and since the weather cleared this afternoon we decided to go find Silver Falls State Park. We arrived too late to really take advantage of the trails but made plans to come back this week.
On our way back to Silverton we were on a tight, twisty, two lane road. We were not in any hurry but driving close to the speed limit. I noticed two cars coming up on us at a rapid rate. I could tell they were impatient to pass us, but with all the twists and turns it was all marked as a no passing zone. Finally the first car made a quick move and was by us. I noticed that it was a bunch of kids. That's ok, we all were impatient when we were young.
What happened next though was just plain stupid. The second car decided he needed to catch up with his friends and decided to pass me on a blind curve. What he didn't see was the on coming pickup truck. I hit the brakes, the pickup truck swerved, and the driver of an older mustang tried to split in between. He didn't make it. He did avoid the pickup but scraped along the side of our Explorer. And then...... he drove off. He had to have known he hit us, but he just drove off. In shock, I pulled over to see what damage was done. While we were standing there the pickup driver who he had almost hit head on pulled up. He had turned around to make sure we were ok. We were happy to see he was ok and exchanged info, and he went on his way.
We did call 911, and also talked to the Oregon State Police.. Of course it all happened so fast that we didn't get a license number. With just a description of the vehicle there is little they can do, but I will say they were very professional, and wanted to make sure that we were ok.
It was one of those moments that you are once again reminded that God reached in and intervened. And for that we are grateful. What could have been a tragic accident is now just an unpleasant memory. It appears that the damage is minor, and will probably be less than our deductible. I have to remember, it's only stuff and stuff can be fixed or replaced. With a life, not so much.
Until later.
