My trip to Indy...One of the worst days of my life!

Tuesday, the 23rd, I went to Indianapolis to view apartments I had selected and researched online. The catch though was that there was icy rain and the roads were very slick. I know it was pretty nuts to go, but I didn't really have any other options. The apartments wouldn't be open the 24th and 25th and I wasn't sure if they would be the following Friday either, my current apartment lease is up at the end of December and I need at least a few days to do the actual moving, so that left only Tuesday to settle on something (and in case you're wondering, I couldn't go earlier because I just now got my unemployment payments - or at least some of them, but that's another story).

So on a normal day it takes around an hour and a quarter (give or take) to make it to Indy, however Tuesday it took over 3 hours! The fastest I ever got up to was 40mph and I think I averaged around 20. There were several different cars and even a semi along the side of the road (mostly on the westbound lanes), although none of the accidents looked to be too serious. Speaking of, I got into one near Brownsburg - the car in front of me stopped and when I tried to stop I slid instead. I tried to swerve left but ended up going right and hit a truck in the other lane. It was almost like it was in slow motion because I could see it happening but couldn't do anything to stop it. Fortunately we were only going 15mph so it wasn't too bad, only some minor scrapes and dents.



When I finally got to the northwestern portion of I-465 my car broke down. I was in the middle lane completely stopped while the lane on either side of me was moving, albeit slowly. Then I heard a subtle hissing noise and noticed smoke coming from under my hood. I quickly made my way over to the exit lane - luckily I was near one. I popped the hood and initially noticed the cap was off the plastic container labeled engine coolant, but it looked to be half full. So I bundled up and walked off in the sleet and cold to a somewhat nearby gas station and then to a mechanic about a mile away. He said they couldn't do anything until it was towed, so he called a towing company and I found out it would be a 4-5 hour wait! I sat there for a moment warming up and trying to figure out what to do. I decided to walk all the way back to my car and check it again, at which point I realized the coolant container was completely empty - what I had seen before was an inside stain line from the side. So I trekked back to the gas station, bought some coolant, walked back to the car again and filled it up. As it turns out, this was just the overflow and not really the problem anyway.



I was on the phone with my girlfriend as I broke down and started walking, but to make matters worse my phone died. So she knew about my plight but did not know what was happening or if I was okay. Additionally I somehow broke my phone's belt clip, which in itself wouldn't be too big of deal but is just one more thing to add to the trauma.

The car seemed to be okay but at this point it was too late to view apartments so I went to Arby's to grab something to eat. I didn't think it would be good to drive all the way back home so I called my uncle which lives in Avon to see if I could stay with him. The few miles on the interstate went pretty well, though it was fairly slow. As it turns out it's a good thing I didn't try to head back home because the I-74 exit was backed up for literally 4 miles on both sides! Once I got to the exit I needed, it took me around 40 minutes just to get to the first stop light which was less than half a mile distance. I thought it would eventually clear up but it was stop and go traffic along the whole way after; at one point there was a semi trailer across the road!



Shortly after this my engine started rumbling a bit so I shut the car off to let it rest a bit, considering we were completely stopped, but then couldn't get it to start again. A guy came up to offer help and we were about to push it when I tried again and it actually started. However, I only made it about 50 feet when it completely died on me. At least this time I was able to get it to the side of the road so cars could pass. I was able to charge my phone a bit on my car charger, so the first time I called my uncle and he was on his way to come get me (I was only about a mile and a half from his house). After it broke down the second time I realized both lanes had completely stopped and had been that way for a while (which was due to a cop being in the ditch as well as a dump truck being stuck), so I called him again and told him I would be walking because he wouldn't be able to make it through. So I once again trekked across the ice in the rain to meet him at a church parking lot he had made it to. We weren't sure what to do so we waited there for a short while and the traffic finally began to clear up a bit. So we headed back to the car and were able to get it off onto a side road where we would be able to safely leave it. I didn't realize it at the time but discovered later I had left my window open - which got my atlas soaked. :(

When we got back to his house I was pretty soaked so we threw my coat, hat, gloves, and socks into the dryer. But once it was done we found out I had some cookies in my coat pocket (which I could have sworn I checked first). That was pretty much the last straw - I wanted to just bang my head against a wall and give up!