2017/05/17/Harena's account

So! Since i've Mostly Recovered, I can now tell our Tale of Terror from yesterday! (didn't feel like typing it out on a device keyboard.. had to do a Reader's Digest Version to send to Mel and was done with that shit after that ;P)

[10:29] we had collected Z and managed to wedge all of his stuff into the back of the car and we were tooling down I40 East when a vague thumping we had been noticing suddenly evolved into A VERY LOUD bam? Bang? EXPLOSION? nah, just Bam & made the noise that at the time my brain couldn't process and W immediately (signaled, that was the best part, she remembered to use her turn signal whilst the rear of the car sounded like it'd fall off at any moment ;D) moved from the left lane we were in to the right to pull off the road... (edited)

[10:30] when the car suddenly started swerving madly and i was all in my head going "W why you do this, just get off the road" and then the REAL fun started.. the car started fishtailing wildly and spun around at least once (maybe twice? who even knows), and through W's masterful handling, we end up on the shoulder pointing in the opposite direction of the traffic.

[10:31] and we all sat there for a second or two in silence.

[10:31] and then Z said "Seatbelts!" oslt. or was it B? can't remember. we were all in shock abit... except W who was shaking like a leaf, bless her

[10:32] and then W was all, "I'm going to try to back up and get fully off the road" which she did

[10:33] there was a guy who was slightly behind us and passed us after we had stopped and apparently he had a front row view of what happened 'cause he pulled over and came running up to see if we were okay. Total redneck/hillbilly but just as nice as could be & Concerned. W assures him that we were all Fine, thank you for checking.

[10:34] it is at that point that the noise turned out to be a totally blown tire

[10:34] (i had never been in a blow-out in a fast moving automobile.. is totally a different beast from going 35mph or so which i have been in)

[10:35] soyeah, we were all fine. the car was fine except for the totally shredded tire and so W gets on the phone to our road service people to arrange either a tow truck or soemone to fix the tire

[10:36] we had to unpack ALL of the stuff wedged in the back to get to the spare which turned out to be (thankfully) a full sized tire and wait. and Wait.

[10:36] it is about then that we realized there was a Plague of Cicadas happening all around us

[10:36] they must have just hatched 'cause they were _everywhere_

[10:38] W has pictures and Z caught one and was holding it up to everyone's ears so we could hear the bizarre alien noise it was making

[10:38] i say that 'cause these cicadas were different from the ones we have around here... ours are big and green but these were smaller and Orange. And their noise was different too.

[10:39] W also recorded them so i'm counting on her sharing that stuff

[10:39] i went on a hunt to find shells 'cause there _had_ to be some _somewhere_

[10:39] Z kept catching them and driving B nuts ;D

[10:40] i finally tracked down some of the holes they must have crawled out of and finally found a shell, yay!

[10:40] it's now holding onto the crocheted flowers hanging from our rear view mirror ... Spoils from the Day!