The Most Expensive Cup of Coffee I've Ever Had

Tomorrow marks a week since I left Kalamazoo. It doesn't sound like it's been very long but it definitely feels longer. I have grown and learned so much about myself, about people, and about this world. So far it has been a beautiful experience with lots of blissful moments but also lots of dark moments that have forced me to look within myself and untie those knots of self doubt, fear, hesitation, and loneliness.

However, today brought a whole new wave of darkness, fear, and self-doubt.

Marty got a little too excited about getting coffee. Oops.

You see, there are certain things that are not allowed at the Temple. Alcohol, eggs, garlic, onions...I can live without those. But coffee? Now we've got a problem. So after working in the kitchen this morning and waking up from a nap, the only thing on my mind was coffee. I had a cup of milk to see if the craving would pass.

Nope.

I had a cookie.

Didn't help.

So I decided to drive into town for a cup of coffee.

I was about a block away from the coffee shop when the huge truck in front of me started moving and then abruptly slammed on his brakes. Well, Marty's brakes don't react as quickly as they used to (probably all that mountain driving), and we had a little oopsie...well, kind of a big oopsie.

As I pulled over to the side, every single swear word in my vocabulary escaped from my mouth and I cradled my head in my hands for about 2.5 seconds before quickly jumping out of my car to make sure everyone was okay. And everyone was just fine. Marty took most of the force (the truck just had a few scratches), thankfully so since the truck had a bunch of sweet little children in the backseat. I am fine, just a tiny bit of whiplash but nothing too serious.

The truck was from out of town as well (Idaho), so they couldn't help me in terms of finding a towing place or a car repair shop. We exchanged insurance information, decided not to call the cops (all they would do is make us exchange insurance info and write a police report, and neither of us wanted that) and I assured them that they should get on their way and didn't need to wait with me to figure everything out. So they hesitantly got in their truck and drove off. And that is when the adrenaline wore off and the reality of the situation hit me.

I am alone,

in a foreign town in Utah where I don't know a single soul,

on Labor Day when everything is closed,

with a wounded Marty.

So what did I do?

I cried and had a meltdown. Then I called my Mommy while having another meltdown. And then I called P. while having yet another meltdown. And then I took a deep breath and pulled myself together. I mean this is one of the things I asked for, isn't it? To have only myself to count on when I get in trouble with no one near to save me.  To pull myself together in times of crisis and handle it, on my own. Well I asked and I received.

I called the insurance company with no success. Since they couldn't locate me and Marty via phone number on file (my mom's number is on file, and she is Michigan; so that's useless) they told me to get a towing truck and then fax the bill to them. Well thanks a lot insurance company but it's Labor Day and EVERYTHING IS CLOSED! So I got off the phone and had another meltdown. And in the middle of meltdown number 18360, I see a car pull up behind me and two angels walked out, The Johnsons. The husband and wife duo embraced me with hugs and validated my fear. Mrs. Johnson quickly pulled me away from the car and engaged me in conversation while Mr. Johnson made a few phone calls (turns out Mr. Johnson works for the state of Utah so he has personal cell phone numbers of all the cops). A few minutes later, an off-duty Officer pulls up and listens to my story.

"Okay, first thing, let's get this bumper out from underneath your car and see how bad the damage is. Do you think you can get behind the wheel and back the car up for me?"

"Yes, sir."

After pulling out the bumper and realizing that the car only has cosmetic damage and no internal damage, the cop assures me that it's safe to drive back to the Temple and then back to town to a car repair shop in the morning. He then proceeds with:

"Now I know that this was a complete accident and because I'm off duty I feel like I can tell you this; if you would've called the cops we would've had to write you a ticket, even though this accident may have been unavoidable. So be grateful that you didn't call the cops when the accident happened. You just saved yourself from getting a huge ticket Miss."

"Well I'm sure glad I didn't do that!" (I'm pretty sure the Universe was looking out for me. And I'm confident that there's a very powerful outcome to all of this...only time will tell.)

"And that's the good news. Now the bad news; this bumper has to go with you so lower your back window so I can shove it in there."

And after shoving Marty's bumper in my back seat, the Officer left and the Johnsons offered me a place to stay at their home. I politely declined and assured them that I was okay. And then I went on my way in my little wounded Marty.

And where did I go?

Well to the coffee shop, of course. I mean I was only a block away and that was the whole reason I went into town. And after getting the largest cup of coffee available, I *very slowly and carefully* drove Marty back to the Temple drinking the most expensive cup of coffee of my life. And I have to tell you, it tasted good. Real good.

Yes, that is Marty's bumper laying on the side.

Thankfully, I have the best mother in the world who listens to my meltdown rants, snaps me out of them, and offers to handle all the paperwork for me. I know, I'm pretty lucky. So with my Mom's help, this will all get figured out and I will either be driving a healed Marty, or Marty will get a proper funeral here in Utah and I will walk away with a whole new vehicle. Either way, everyone is okay and life keeps moving on. And who knows? Maybe this little accident saved me from a much bigger accident that day. Or maybe Marty wouldn't be able to make it through the mountains to Sedona and I would get stuck somewhere in the hills. Or worse yet, maybe Marty and I would've gotten ourselves killed. But none of these things happened. Instead, we got in a little accident in a place where I have a home for the next month and no one got hurt. There are some huge blessings in all of this. And I'm sure that one day this will be an awesome story to tell: "Well one time, when I decided to be a crazy gypsy, live out of my car, and travel all over the country, I got in this car accident........ (TO BE CONTINUED).."

It's all part of the journey. I'm just thankful I have people who support me and uplift me even from 3,000 miles away. And now I can't deny that this trip definitely started off with a BANG! Ha!