An abrupt end...

To catch up: 

We departed Sharon and Kyle's house in Rimrock on Sunday March 19 and drove back down to Sierra Vista to Beth and Aaron's. We stayed there until Wednesday March 22. We departed Sierra Vista and had a long day's driving to Van Horn TX, east of El Paso. We had stayed in this RV park on our way out and it was an easy overnight place. The next day we headed northeast through TX to just south of Abilene and stayed for 1 night at the Tye, TX RV park. 

On Friday March 24 we arrived at a college friend of mine and her husband's beautiful home outside Dallas, in Frisco TX. Carol and Josh treated us royally and it was great to visit and catch up with her and to spend time with Josh. We left Frisco on Monday, March 27, my birthday, heading for another friend's house near Fayetteville, AR. It was an uneventful drive until about 4:45 pm. 

We were driving on I40, about an hour away from our destination when a young girl hit the rear of the Casita. She hit the passenger rear side of the trailer with the driver side of her car. I am not sure what she was doing all the way over there as we were in the right lane. But she must have been going really fast because she knocked the Casita into the truck and sent both vehicles fishtailing into the middle lanes.  The truck went on its driver's side and the Casita went on it's passenger side and we slid along like that into the left lane. Then the truck flipped on its roof and the Casita, because it was laying on its opposite side, righted itself. We ended up almost in the median, in a turn around lane that just happened to be there.

So there we were, hanging by our seatbelts in the upside down truck and all the stuff in the back was thrown around as were the dogs. The side airbags went off too. We both released our seatbelts and our first thoughts were for the dogs. A whole bunch of people had stopped and were waiting to help us out of the side windows, which were blown out. One of the first people who spoke to me was the young girl who told me over and over how sorry she was that she had hit us!  Wasn't really who I wanted to see or what I wanted to hear!

A couple of the fellows and Steve started going through the back seat of the truck, removing stuff to get to the dogs. Remarkably neither Steve nor I, nor either dog were injured! We both have a couple small cuts and this odd burn on our upper arms from the air bag going off but that is it. Amazing and our guardian angels were surely watching over us. 

So state police and EMS arrived, and tow truck drivers to haul away the vehicles. The young girl was on the far side of the road from us. She was able to drive her car away. But the state police did site her for something (don't know what yet - unsafe lane change or following to close something like that) but it was definitely her fault so her insurance will be paying out. 

We had to decline EMT services as we could not bring our dogs in the ambulance and could not leave them there so that was that. It took an hour or more to get the truck right side up and both vehicles on two different flatbeds, then the tow truck driver loaded all 4 of us into his rig and aff we went to Alma, AR where the tow yard was located. Thankfully Xi came with her pick up  and got us and the dogs and some stuff that we needed for the night. What an ordeal and some birthday! 

We spent the next day on the phone with insurance companies, went back to the tow yard to get some more stuff, like dog food and clothes and made a plan to get all the stuff out of both vehicles the next day so they can be towed off for damage assessment. 

One of our generous friends is driving his big Dodge Ram truck out here to get all of us and will tow a little uhaul full of our stuff home for us. It is really nice to have good friends!  In the mean time Xi and Lyn are taking care of us, feeding us amazing meals and figuring out the logistics of this all with us. Again...good friends! I can't imagine doing this from a hotel room. 

So when Doug arrives on Saturday we will start our last leg home...probably 2 nights, 3 days worth. Certainly not the way we hoped to end our journey. We will have to shop for a new truck and camper after we learn what the payouts will be, as we assume both are totalled. 

We are tired and anxious but very grateful for the love and support so many of you have shown us, and of course for being alive!  It could have been SO much worse. 

A sad end to our first adventure. It was really sad to leave the Casita today. She just looks awful as does our beautiful truck. I know it is all just stuff...but I will miss them both. 

How we landed

 

Fiberglass hull breach

Passenger side damage

 

Anderson anti sway hitch

It may be hard to tell from the photo of the Anderson hitch, but that is supposed to be a flat piece of metal. It is folded in half and sheared off from the stress of having the Casita go over on it's opposite side from the truck and then go upright again. Crazy!