It’s been eerily quiet around this blog as of late. I haven’t been well but not, ill, in the sense of sickness.

Our 50th Anniversary is this August. We thought we would celebrate with a cruise through the Panama Canal, down through Central America on up to South America then finishing with a weeks stay at the last port San Francisco. Although it’s earlier than our anniversary date, we chose this time due to the itinerary being offered by the cruise line. I had prepared for this trip for months.

The night before our departure the winds were blowing and the rains were torrential. When we awoke my husband did an inspection of our lanai. To his surprise the storm had broken through 2 of our lanai screens; tossed our patio chairs into the pool and my orchid arbor had been moved 6 feet. While he was quickly repairing the screens to prevent birds and wildlife from creating homes on my lanai, I snapped into preparing for our departure.

1. Luggage in car – check
2. Passports / ID / charge cards – check
3. Camera – check
4. water bottles – check
5. purse / sunglasses / kindle / hat – check

It was time to go.

Once in the car, we exhaled and sat back to enjoy our 2 1/2 hour drive to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

We were still on time for our 9:00 a.m. departure. This would get us to the pier at 12:30 p.m. It was the right amount of time for a stop along the way to rest. There was plenty of time to find long term parking for our vehicle since the ship would depart at 4:00 p.m. We were prepared.

It’s an easy car ride to the pier. We have to travel from the west coast of Florida to the east coast across the lower part of Florida on a road called Alligator Alley.

Yes … it is called by that name because it was built over swamp land where alligators, to this day, still occupy. The road is fenced with barbed wire at the top to maintain a clear road from these primitive alligators laying out on the road.

With one lane going west to east and one lane going east to west you do not want to run into any type of vehicle problem. Help is slow coming and the bugs from the swampy stagnant water can make for an uncomfortable wait in the heat.

After a bit of conversation and a few fun happy tunes on the radio, I decided I’d get my Kindle out. I wanted to start reading one of my books from my summer book list.

BTW – I was reading ‘Never Look Back’ by Lorna Lee. If you haven’t read it – shame on you.                                                                         It’s a page turner or slider as in the case of reading on a Kindle. LOL

Suddenly, I heard a rattling sound from my side of the car. I popped a glance over at my husband.

Looking quite serious, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I may have to stop and see what that is”.

With no exits available that meant a rest stop. Fortunately, there was one about a mile away.

We pulled off there so he could check-on what the noise was. I made a quick stop to the ladies room as long as we had stopped. When I came back he said he couldn’t find any reason for the noise. With some apprehension, off we went once again.

Ten minutes down the road, as quickly as you could blink, we are off the road in a tire blow-out crash. Because I had my seat in a reclined position while reading, I could see him trying to keep our car from rolling over. The side areas are soft – remember swamp.

I tried to sit up but the angle was steep. Finally, I got my seat up as he’s managed to get the car stopped. We literally sat there with the emergency alarm on, stunned and in disbelief.

2015©isadora delavega

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To be continued *****

Because of my injury, I am unable to sit, stand or lie down for any length of time without discomfort.                                              

Due to that, I hope to add the rest of this experience in segments.

Thank you dear blog friends for your emails and notes of concern.                                                                                                        

You brighten my day with your kind friendship hugs and love.

Namaste,
Isadora

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