Enumclaw Show...A Show I Planned to Attend..but lets just say...things kind of came up

I have to say this was the most excitement I have had in a while.

I was on my way to a rabbit show in Enumclaw, WA morning. of November 12th, 2011. I left about 4:30am from Vancouver. Things were going great until I got up just south of Centralia exit 60 or so on I-5 North about 5:30am. It was incredibly foggy for a few miles and then cleared up to perfect visibility. I saw Emergency personal on the right side with what looked to be an accident, and within seconds after, I hit black ice. I lost control of the vehicle. I swerved to avoid the concrete median divider, but of course over corrected and crossed all three lanes and crashed the car into the hillside to the right of the highway. To say the least I was a little shocked at what had happened. The first thing did was drive the vehicle down the hillside, and ended up getting it stuck in the ditch. Little to my knowledge at the time (it was dark outside), my car actually was high centered and only two wheels were even touching the ground. I just thought it was because of my rear wheel drive that I couldn't get the vehicle out.

Anyways, so I checked all the bunnies, happy to see that they were all alive. That is all I cared about. I got out of the vehicle, and saw that another lady had just done the same thing, but was getting her friend to come tow her out. Within the 30 minutes that followed, 5 more vehicles lost control. Since EMS was still busy with the upside down vehicle south just of us, we took it upon ourselves to check in on everyone to make sure they were ok after their crashes. 2 vehicles were lucky, and were able to just drive way, others had to be towed, and people taken to the hospital. One vehicle lost control, hit another car, and then almost hit us, as we were checking in on the owner of the vehicle. It was NUTS out there, you never knew when someone was going to lose control as they passed by.

So after dealing with State Patrol and EMS (signing the waiver that I didn’t need to go to the hospital), I called AAA to come get me out of the ditch. As I was waiting for the tow truck, Deidra Idell MacKimmie stops alongside the highway, and comes to check on me and the buns. She insisted that she would take the buns to the show, as I had already paid for their entries. Without even thinking I handed them over to her as my tow truck showed up. I didn’t even think to check each bun over before sending them. I was still a little shaken up. So the awesome, super nice guy from Grants towing pulled me out the ditch, and we proceeded to look over the car to ensure that it was still in drivable condition. Sadly it was not. My radiator was leaking antifreeze, the chassis of the vehicle had been pushed back so far underneath that the fan shroud was shattered, and the fan was unable to turn, thus my car had no way to cool itself. It was not going to be able to make it to Encumclaw nor Vancouver. In addition, the fog lights were completely gone, the front hazard light shattered and not working, and the front of the vehicle was packed with mud. The tow truck was unable to tow me as I had rear wheel drive and he said that I should be placed on a flat bed. So he was nice enough to tow me off the road to exit 63 and leave me at the park and ride.

All the while I waited until 8:30am when another tow truck finally showed up. In the meantime I had called some repair places in the area, none of which were open on a Saturday (especially Veterans Day weekend). We eventually decided that it wouldn’t be until Monday for it to get looked at, and a couple days after that for it to get fixed (if it was even worth getting fixed), as it’s an older model and parts are not always in stock. So for the price of putting it in the tow yard for one day, and the impound fee, I had the vehicle towed down to Vancouver to the barn for $200. It was really the only thing I could do until Monday.

All the while, my poor little traumatized buns went to the show. Thank you Deidra MacKimme for picking them up and dropping them off on your way back. Thank you Shonna Ausbourne, Duane Ausbourne, and Tiffany Field Fields for checking them over, making sure they were ok, and getting them on the show tables. Only one little bunny ended up with a lacerated nose. Thank goodness. Still managed to get BOB Jersey Wooly at both shows, I have no idea which animal it was…LOL as it was a no comment card show. But I was happy to get the buns all back home. (Later found out M an' M's Susie Q got BOB in Show A and M an' M's Caribbean Stud Poker got BOB in Show B). I spent quite a bit of time that night giving them treats and making sure they were all ok.

Overall, everything is alive, and that is all I can ask for…even the car isn’t completely dead, as it still runs…just can’t drive it anywhere….^_^

Thank goodness the bunnies and I are ok.

-Ashley