Ever have one of those days?

Have you ever had one of those days where it felt like you walked into a movie scene?
Last week we had a show in Dayton and had planned to spend Sunday, January 6th traveling the 700 miles back to Minneapolis. As Sheridan, Dan and I started out we had no idea what lay ahead. Looking back there should have been ominous violin music playing as we loaded the van for what we thought would be a 12 hour trip. Sheridan started out driving and took us safely through Chicago. I took over driving after a stop for gas and lunch. As we approached Madison, we started driving into patches of fog which limited visibility to less than 100 feet. I became very aware of the person in front of me, slowing down slightly while watching the cars behind to make sure they were aware that I was slowing down (there were cars passing me going at least 60 mph which concerned me). After about 2 miles in the fog things came to a stop. We started listening to the live Stay Tuned recording project we are currently working on to pass time, thinking the traffic would start moving soon. Well, 75 minutes later we were still at a dead stop so we turned off the van in order to conserve gas. Sheridan and Dan walked forward to see what had happened. About 6 cars ahead of us they said it looked like a war zone with crushed cars and semis jack knifed off the road and across the highway. We counted emergency vehicles as they sped by on the other side of I90 which was deserted. By the end we had counted at least 20 emergency vehicles. At 3 hours into our wait, we were watching as people got out of their cars and walked around visiting what became known to us as the his and her trees. Five hours in we were having a good time telling jokes and passing the time when we noticed the Red Cross passing out bottles of water. Needless to say this was not a good sign toward our hope that traffic would be moving anytime soon. By now Sheridan was wrapped completely (including her head) in a very soft cuddle blanket which gave the impression that the blanket was giggling every time we told a joke. Several times firemen would walk by with flashlights telling people to get back to their cars. With the new hope of moving soon all the vehicles would roar to life and turn on their lights. We would sit like this for 20 minutes and then one by one the vehicles would once again turn off their ignition to sit in the dark. Several times during the wait Sheridan's mom would call us with updates on what was happening. Here is the news story as seen on WCCO the next day.

"More than 100 cars were involved Sunday in a series of pileups that killed two people on a foggy five-mile stretch of highway just east of the city.
The Wisconsin State Patrol shut down Interstate 90 in both directions, causing a traffic backup for miles.
Flares lining the inter state's lanes cut through the fog as traffic crawled north of the accident sites. Visibility was about 100 yards. Squad cars and tow trucks streamed toward the accidents as law enforcement agents directed drivers off the interstate.
The accidents happened on a stretch of eastbound Interstate 90 running south from the Badger Interchange with Interstate 94, Dane County sheriff's Lt. Dan Bolch said.
Around 2:30 p.m., cars began braking when they hit a wall of fog near Interstate 90's intersection with U.S. Highway 12/18, Wisconsin State Patrol Lt. Laurie Steeber said. A semi-truck came up behind them and began plowing into vehicles, she said. One person was killed.
A similar pileup happened three miles away when another group of vehicles on the interstate also began braking in fog, Steeber said. A second person was killed in that pileup.
"One of my sergeants described it as a war scene," Steeber said.
She said more than 100 vehicles were involved in the series of pileups, with two major crashes involving 25 and 26 vehicles. Some 50 people were taken to area hospitals, including three with life-threatening injuries, she said.
The preliminary investigation shows that some motorists were traveling at least 70 mph -- above the 65 mph speed limit. Steeber said with the conditions, people should have slowed down."

At 11:00 pm just when we thought we would be there all night the firemen with flashlights walked through again. This time there was movement. Hallelujah! The truck nearest the accident started moving and we drove out single file through the war zone of flashing lights, police cars, tow trucks, overturned semis and crushed and damaged cars. We are very thankful to have escaped the incident with no damage outside of loosing 8 1/2 hours. Dan drove from Madison to Minneapolis very slowly getting us safely home by 5:00 am. We had been in the van all day and night and, as we said to each other at the time, “we couldn't have chosen better people to spend 22 hours in the van with”. As I look back I realize how blessed we were to have not been involved in the actual accidents and my thoughts and prayers go out to all the people who were.
Mike