The next pictures on my camera roll were this! My poor car. We were executing a U-turn very near our rental condo, and two seconds later we were slammed into with a violent force. Hadley burst into tears as John brought the car safely off the road. We were all stunned, as we exited the car. The kids' doors would not open, so they crawled out the front doors. While we were surveying the damage, cars began to collect along the roadside, and witnesses poured over us, checking us for injuries and giving us their account of the accident. Apparently, the other driver was in a big truck/SUV and had been pretty reckless, speeding past several of the witnesses. Another car had pulled out on the other side from our U-turn at the same time, and we think the speeding driver had to pick a lane and did not slow down much before he rear-ended us. The impact seemed to stop his car almost immediately, but we came to a stop 50 yards or so away, so we didn't get to interact with him at all.
After we talked to firemen, EMTs, witnesses, and police, we gathered our belongings and put them in the back of a police truck. He was nice to give us a courtesy drive to the condo just a few yards from the accident, and in that short time he let the sirens go a little crazy for the kids' sake.
Our biggest concern, before the car accident, had been the weather. After all, school had been cancelled for flooding and the weekend was supposed to continue with rain, except for maybe Sunday. I kept that in mind as we were in the highway median in the gorgeous sunshine, that at least we weren't also standing there in the rain! And if you have to be stuck without a car somewhere, you can definitely do worse than the beach! After we carried everything into our condo unit and cleaned up obliterated raw egg from everything in the cooler, John was clear-headed enough to contact our insurance company. While he did that, I decided to take the kids to the beach to decompress and take advantage of the unexpected sunshine. The condos had a sturdy, gated ramp over the dunes to a quiet section of beach. The beach was really the best thing for our frayed nerves after our ordeal.
I was too tired to fathom a full beach outing, but the kids were having such a blast and the beach was so calm and convenient that we decided to come back with Dad and the kids' swimsuits after dinner. After reheating some leftovers that we brought with us, we did just that. Stress melting... melting....
Saturday started pretty early for us. After some cereal, it was back to the beach! We discovered some boogie boards in the condo, so the kids tried to figure out how to maneuver those in the surf, which was entertaining. Because of the impending storm, we had the beach nearly to ourselves. Just how we like it!
After a while, the kids got cold and we headed to the complex's pool and hot tub before making sandwiches back at the condo. John secured a rental car (truck!) for us, and we felt a little better about getting around for the weekend and back home the next day! But we voted to have a relaxing movie day when the rain came after lunch, since we were not up to dealing with crowds and weather-affected traffic. However, we did venture out later for some dinner and dessert on the Strand.
A friend had recommended historic LaKing's for dessert, and it was a hit. They had a little bit of everything, including homemade ice cream, a soda fountain, and numerous cases of all kinds of candies and chocolates. The kids went for ice cream!
We also happened to be there for a taffy pulling demonstration. We had front row seats to watch 40 lbs of milk and sugar become pineapple-flavored chewy goodness on traditional, hundred year-old pulling and wrapping machines. As Owen noted, those machines have "lived" through both world wars! And they tossed out free samples!
Sunday morning gave us one last short visit to the beach where the kids created a town on the sand. I'm so glad we got to have a beach vacation with nothing else on the agenda. It actually worked out perfectly, despite having to leave one of our own (our car) behind in Galveston, in that we had time to recuperate, relax, and contemplate the important things in life, before we had to come back to adulting and reality.
We were so thankful that we were all okay (just a few bruises, scratches, and one minor case of whiplash for me). It could have been so much worse! Our cargo area was pretty full with a cooler, suitcases, etc., and I think that helped to absorb some of the impact before it reached the seats. (I could not find my phone for quite a while, so my pictures were after we made a first attempt at emptying the car, but John got one of it still fully loaded right after the crash.)
This Subaru was such a good car for us. We were sad to say good-bye so abruptly and wanted to take a picture with it before it was towed away. Thanks for saving us "Mommy Car". You were the best!
After we talked to firemen, EMTs, witnesses, and police, we gathered our belongings and put them in the back of a police truck. He was nice to give us a courtesy drive to the condo just a few yards from the accident, and in that short time he let the sirens go a little crazy for the kids' sake.
Our biggest concern, before the car accident, had been the weather. After all, school had been cancelled for flooding and the weekend was supposed to continue with rain, except for maybe Sunday. I kept that in mind as we were in the highway median in the gorgeous sunshine, that at least we weren't also standing there in the rain! And if you have to be stuck without a car somewhere, you can definitely do worse than the beach! After we carried everything into our condo unit and cleaned up obliterated raw egg from everything in the cooler, John was clear-headed enough to contact our insurance company. While he did that, I decided to take the kids to the beach to decompress and take advantage of the unexpected sunshine. The condos had a sturdy, gated ramp over the dunes to a quiet section of beach. The beach was really the best thing for our frayed nerves after our ordeal.
I was too tired to fathom a full beach outing, but the kids were having such a blast and the beach was so calm and convenient that we decided to come back with Dad and the kids' swimsuits after dinner. After reheating some leftovers that we brought with us, we did just that. Stress melting... melting....
Saturday started pretty early for us. After some cereal, it was back to the beach! We discovered some boogie boards in the condo, so the kids tried to figure out how to maneuver those in the surf, which was entertaining. Because of the impending storm, we had the beach nearly to ourselves. Just how we like it!
After a while, the kids got cold and we headed to the complex's pool and hot tub before making sandwiches back at the condo. John secured a rental car (truck!) for us, and we felt a little better about getting around for the weekend and back home the next day! But we voted to have a relaxing movie day when the rain came after lunch, since we were not up to dealing with crowds and weather-affected traffic. However, we did venture out later for some dinner and dessert on the Strand.
A friend had recommended historic LaKing's for dessert, and it was a hit. They had a little bit of everything, including homemade ice cream, a soda fountain, and numerous cases of all kinds of candies and chocolates. The kids went for ice cream!
We also happened to be there for a taffy pulling demonstration. We had front row seats to watch 40 lbs of milk and sugar become pineapple-flavored chewy goodness on traditional, hundred year-old pulling and wrapping machines. As Owen noted, those machines have "lived" through both world wars! And they tossed out free samples!
Sunday morning gave us one last short visit to the beach where the kids created a town on the sand. I'm so glad we got to have a beach vacation with nothing else on the agenda. It actually worked out perfectly, despite having to leave one of our own (our car) behind in Galveston, in that we had time to recuperate, relax, and contemplate the important things in life, before we had to come back to adulting and reality.
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