No signs prepared us for the incredibly curvy roads ahead.
All of a sudden I knew I hit that turn all wrong and then I look up and the front
of my car is crunched in.
"OH MY GOSH IS RYAN OK!?" Screams in my brain. "Ok, phew he is... now what the hell just happened? Am I bleeding?" I wasn't.
I get out of my car and look at the damage. "Oh shit, this is going to be expensive. Wait, where are my glasses?" They had flown off in the crash into the passenger side floor.
"How did we end up 180 degrees the other way in the other lane and smashed into a mountain?" I turn around and check for gravel, there really wasn't much but man was that curve TIGHT.
*sigh* I call my dad, "hey dad, I just got into an accident, we're ok, but my car won't start and it's pretty banged up, what do I do?" Answer? Call Progressive.
I do, they take my information and then send a tow truck with a 1-2 hour time frame. Awesome.
So Ryan and I assess the damage, figure out there is no way my car is ok (it's leaking green stuff and there are pieces all over the road) and tell all the curious onlookers we're ok and waiting for the tow truck. One of those onlookers was a park ranger who told me that this is the second car TODAY that crashed... uh might want to put some signs up ya think? Oh well, damage done. Lots of damage.
So the tow truck guy gets there, chuckles when I ask him if he thinks it's totaled and then we ride all the way back to my apartment (1.5 hour drive) to drop my mangled vehicle off. Then Ryan and I pile into his car and drive ALL the way back to Julian to get our camping stuff and then aaalllllllll the way back to my apartment for the night.
The "communication" with the insurance company continues Sunday night and Monday. All the while I've had my car towed to an auto body shop on Monday morning and I went to CarMax to look at cars because everyone with any car knowledge (and even those without any) tell me my car is toast and so I should start shopping.
Not knowing how much my settlement would be, car shopping wasn't that much fun, but I tried to make light of the situation. Despite the fact my neck and lower back were killing me and I was pretty shaky and afraid to drive, I tried to put a smile on my face. I ended up finding a Honda Civic that I loved and put my "circle circle dot dot" on it with the car salesman, Rudy. (PS If you're in San Diego and need a car, Rudy at CarMax is the BEST!!)
The "communication" continues with the insurance company only with my calls to them going "hey when will I know anything?" every couple of hours. I think that paid off because by Wednesday I had my settlement check (almost twice what I was expecting!!) and was off to CarMax to put the downpayment on my 2008 black Honda Civic.
All in all Ryan and I are no longer hurting (minus the intense bruise on my thigh from my car door slamming into my leg) and I have a new (to me) car and the crash itself could have been much worse. We're definitely thankful that if we had to crash, the way we did was best. No one was hurt, we didn't roll the car or slide down the mountain, just slammed into it. Positive thinking is definitely helping.
I'm able to sleep the night now but still have random flash backs about the crash itself and the "what ifs" that could have been. Hoping those will go away soon.
I pick up my car tomorrow mid-morning and can't wait to put this all behind me!!
Until next time...
