Three Strikes of Bad Luck

We just finished up a great family vacation, where we enjoyed some perfect weather and no one got hurt on the ski slopes. What could possibly go wrong now? We did the last minute packing and hugs this morning, and we left before 8:30 a.m. That's easier to do with the help of our grandson, Eli, who gets us up around 5:00 a.m. After  long good-bye hugs, the three vehicles of friends and family took off for their different destinations. We chose the south direction down Highway 9 out of Breckenridge. The Colorado Department of Transportation warned us that this route was icy and perilous four days ago when we were driving to Breckenridge. But there were no travel advisories for Highway 9 on this sunny day as we left Breckenridge.

We could see the tall walls of snow on both sides of the highway in the picture above, and the layer of ice and snow that still remained on the road in the picture below. But it was a smooth drive over Hoosier Pass 

With all this snow and slick roadways, one would guess that our first bad luck strike may have happened here. But no, we all enjoyed the uneventful ride through this white mountain beauty. Our carload agreed that we were glad we chose this route instead of the more-traveled and less-scenic road through Denver.

It wasn't until we were at a lower, less beautiful altitude that "Strike One" happened. We were driving through the town of LaJunta, Colorado, when Mark slowed down because the pickup in front of us was making a right turn. It's too bad that the pickup behind us didn't slow down too. Instead, he plowed right into us. We pulled into the nearest parking lot, and luckily that other driver did too. We have been blessed that we haven't had one of these fender benders before in all our travels. We had to google to see that it was probably a good idea to get a police report. So we waited until the LaJunta police officer arrived and determined that the other driver was at fault. 

The good news is that the damage isn't too bad, and we could still drive home. "Strike One" delayed us around an hour on this long travel day. But we arrived safely to the Oklahoma panhandle just as another beautiful sunset was unveiling across the western sky.

"Strike two" didn't happen until the next day. Our daughter-in-law works as a Physician's Assistant, and she had a routine Covid test before going back to work. She had no symptoms, but she called to let us know that she tested positive. Any time you have a family member with Covid, that would qualify as a "strike."

It was the next morning when Denisa began feeling bad. It wasn't long before we got reports of sickness from others in our group. Jordan's Mother, Eli, and Denisa all had the classic Covid symptoms--head ache, congestion, cough, sore throat, aches. That would be our "Strike Three" for this blog. Our situation is complicated by the fact that we are spending these last two days with Mark's Mother as we load the motor home and prepare to leave. We sure don't want to expose Mark's 93-year-old Mother to Covid. What a bummer as we're dealing with three strikes of bad luck!