Step 25. Get even more wheels.

Yea... so. I have a new job! I now work on a reserve north of the city as a recreational coordinator, which means I plan fun things and then do them. This is Kathleen, who I spend everyday with. She is from Fort McKay so she has been crucial to the success of anything we do.

And this is a guy building a teepee, no joke. Pretty fly!


The HIV Society closed amid scandal and suspicion of embezzlement. It was quite distressing. While we were facing the fact that our director had absconded with our cash, I interviewed for a job up here. As it so happens, the day I left the HIV Society, everyone else was let go and they were shut down. I literally went from one job on a Friday to a new one on a Monday. More about the reserve later. Till then, check out my truck:

I was driving home after hunting this year (go a big cow moose and her baby!) and kind of crashed my truck. I was on Highway 63- also known as the highway of death. It is notoriously bad and I have had great luck on it, driving in November, February, and pretty much whenever my fancy strikes. It is 5 hours from Edmonton to Fort, with one stop in between. A lot of that is a single lane each way. It is filled with big trucks and roid monsters. And somehow I thought me being on there all the time was a good idea.

So here I am, speeding along, totally unaware that I am driving on nothing but ICE. That thick, terrifying ice that you cannot even walk on. I have a truck filled with camping gear, guns, and a salted moose hide.

I was doing about 80 km/h, which is 20 less than the limit, and come to a down hill section. Then I loose control of the truck. I do a little adjustment and swerve into oncoming traffic. I adjust and swerve the other way. This is when the chest tightens and I cannot breathe and I realize that I have little to no control of where this truck is going. I am picking up speed as I race downhill. I start honking to let the other vehicles know that this is not for fun. I swerve back into oncoming traffic. Two vehicles are able to move. There is one left coming strait towards me. My hands tighten on the wheel and I brace myself with my arms. I stiffen my neck and push myself back into the seat as hard as I can. I am going to hit him. There is nothing I can do. He speeds past and almost makes it by, and then...

I clipped his back end as he went past. The roads were SO slick that we both spun into the ditch. I just sat there, still braced against the wheel, just waiting. Something isn't right. No rolling, no broken glass, no airbag... The car is quiet. What? Is that it? I just hit a guy at 100!!

I went over and he was okay- already on the phone to find a ride to town. He was totally fine. I was totally fine. Both of our vehicles are totaled.

The police came (they have to for a collision, apparently) and wrote a report, after spinning out on the road himself. A couple stopped and the woman came and gave me a hug. Her and her husband waited with me for the police so I could sit in their truck. Three more people spun into the ditch before the salt truck came. Then all the ice was gone!!

So these complete strangers who stop to help let me sit int heir car for an hour with them to stay warm and carry my guns along the highway to their own vehicle. I go home with this couple, crying every few minutes, and we eat spaghetti and talk about Jesus. It was pretty awesome. Turns out the lady is a trauma counselor. How great! I stayed at there place for 5 hours and it was like being with family friends.

Then the Cheethams drive 4 hours to come and pick me up in this backwater Alberta town, then 4 hours home! I was in bed that night and at work the next day. I am so well provided for it is absolutely nuts. I mean really, who totals there car, then goes to a strangers house for a family dinner and is picked up and driven home to where they live 4 HOURS AWAY. I am not just grateful to be alive, I am grateful to have a life filled with incredible people and awesome provision.

A week later a friend and I drove back to empty the truck, I had a good sob in the driver's seat, and said goodbye. It was a great vehicle and meant so much more than that being from my Grandpa and all. Some friends were saying that my good hunting luck is from my grandpa, and that he protected me in the accident. They also said that's probably all the mojo his spirit had left, so I should cut the near death experiences for a while.

Now I am back in town with no vehicle. The sometimes frantic nature of my work makes this hectic, as, in fact, my carpool left without me my second day back. I just couldn't leave yet!! The 55 km walk home is not one I want to make on a regular basis, so work gives me this:

Two words: FLEET VEHICLE. I don't pay for insurance, maintenance, or gas. It is pretty dang sweet.

I don't feel comfortable driving it for personal use, though, so I still need a car I can take grocery shopping. BUT HOW CAN I CAR SHOP?? I am not good at this. I have never bought a car. If you recall, the last one was a gift. And now I've crashed it! Which bring me to this:

My new truck!! My dear sweet uncle is lending me this sweet ride until I move away. How Albertan is this baby?! I love that is it red. I am living large in the hillbilly stereotypes. I like wearing my Browning baseball cap when I am driving it.

Now I have 2 vehicles. I won't keep the work one for long, but it sure is nice to have options.

A friend asked a few days later if being in a car accident that should have killed me made me evaluate what I was doing with my life. And yes it did. The conclusion? That I have a sweet awesome life and am doing with it exactly what I should.