Don’t tell mom

December 7, 2014 at about two in the afternoon I am on Highway 39 headed west towards Drayton Valley, Alberta. There was freezing rain the night before. The weather was fine, not a cloud in the sky, and the highway was close to bare in most places. I was on my way to see my mother and deliver her birthday present. Her birthday was in a few days.

I was following a vacuum truck and getting tired of eating the road spray and came up on a passing lane on my side of the highway. I pulled out to pass, the surface looked fine, I got about a car length and a half in front and then things went wrong.

My trusty all-wheel drive Hyundai decided to lose control and I spun in a circle, bounced off the side of the vacuum truck and headed straight for the ditch at about fifty to fifty-five miles an hour. I stopped about fifteen yards from the road in a farmer’s field. I looked around, and thought I might be able to drive out of this. A quick three point turn and I tried to drive out onto the highway. No go. This was a ditching that you could be proud of. Shut it off, walked out to the road, informed a guy that stopped that I was fine. Talked to the vacuum truck guy who stopped and not a mark on his vehicle. Someone phoned a tow truck and then everyone left. I gave mom a quick call and told her I would be late as I had hit the ditch.

Just after I left the highway and attempted to drive back on

While waiting for a tow truck to arrive I grabbed my back bumper that was torn off and shoved it into the back seat. After multiple people drove by without stopping a guy in his fifties in a four wheel drive Ford stopped and asked what happened. I filled him in and he said I should be able to drive out of this. Told him I could not drive onto the road. He meant to drive across the field and catch a side road. Said he would check it out and drove off. Minutes later he drove from the far end of the field, marked a path, and I powered through and followed him out.

The Hyundai impressed me. It got a little beat up and managed to drive across a field through close to eighteen inches of snow, onto a side road, then onto the highway. It seemed to drive fine. I continued to Drayton Valley, dropped off my stuff, had a short visit with my mother, then four hours via highway back home. I was amazed I had no injuries, just some stiffness.

I do need a vehicle now. All mom knows is that I hit the ditch. I omitted telling her the other details.