Just Us Girls

Friday Afternoon

It was around 4 in the afternoon, when I got a text saying that I could go pick her up early if I wanted to. I was excited and told her I was on my way. I just had to make a quick stop and then I'd be there. I was happy to have extra time to spend with her. I grabbed my purse, keys and umbrella and out the door I went.

The rain was coming down so hard and had been for hours.
This was the third really heavy rain storm that we had in a matter of just a few weeks. The first rain storm was so heavy that many places in our area had flooded badly. The second and third storms were sure to just make the flooding situation worse and it did. Water had already begun collecting in the yard and on the road in front of the house. I began to worry that I wasn't going to be able to go get her, but got in my car anyway. I started driving my normal route, but "oh no" there's water over the road! I had no choice though, I had to keep going. I pushed the gas pedal down and kept saying, "please make it through, please make it through". As I drove, the water got deeper and I just knew I was going to stall out! Just as I thought all hope was lost, the car pushed through and made it back to higher ground! Whew, I made it to the end of my street. I was on the phone with my husband during all of this. When I got to the end of the street he, knowing the area better than I, told me not to go left like I normally do because the water was probably too high that way. So I turned right. I only needed to go 1 block in this direction, then I could use a different route to go get her. Sure enough, there was water across the road. I just kept saying to the truck in front of me, "please just don't stop". I know if you are in high water, the worst thing you can do is stop. Lucky for me, he didn't stop. My poor Fusion pushed through, almost stalling again at one point, to the end of the block. I made it this far but, if the roads are this bad now, there's no way I can make the hour long trip to go pick her up. I knew, if I can't make it out, I will never be able to get back in in 2 hours. Suddenly, I was very sad. I had been looking forward to this weekend for weeks and now it may not happen. Oh well, I have no choice now but to go home. So, I make the right at the light and swerve around the puddles of water that are across my entire lane. I turn on the next street, heading back toward my house. I get to the cross street to cut through to my street. I turn left. I get halfway down the street and stop! The rest of the street is under water! I can't tell exactly how deep the water is, but I can see that it's above the top of the curb. There's no way I'm even going to attempt to go any further. My car almost stalled out twice already. I am not going to push my luck. So, I turn around. I go back to the stop sign, take a left and hope the only other route to my house is passable. I get to my street and make the left, crossing my fingers at this point. I drive all the way to my house. My driveway sits up high off the road. I pull in, turn off the car and go inside.

We were supposed to meet my brother and go to dinner with him after I picked her up. I texted him and her. I told them that there was no way I could make the trip in my car. I explained that I couldn't even get out of my neighborhood. I asked my brother, since he has a Dodge truck, if he could go pick her up and bring her to me. At first, he said he couldn't. Then a few minutes later, he texted and said he could. I got excited again and thanked him. I texted her and told her to be ready when he got there. Then I patiently waited for them to arrive.