Pre-Key, Part IV

On the way to the Keys, after getting out of the gas station, faster than I wanted to, there was a big accident. I was following my GPS and Waze, so I can see if one had better traffic information. Although the GPS comes with lifetime traffic, it is nothing compared to Waze. It wasn’t updating at all during this incident. Ironically, when it did do a time update, it was the same as Waze. It also takes me to locations faster than Waze at times. I used it the last week, so I could get a feel for how it would work when I needed it.

Unfortunately, before I left, I forgot to download a few episodes of a podcast I started listening to during my last long trip. While playing that and burning my data, the phone also started to burn. It hit temps that made the charging stop. So somewhere between the podcast, Waze, and fast charging, I had to turn on the air higher than usual, take it off the charger, and pause playing the podcast. Ironically, the audio stream would stop on its own as the phone got hotter.

So, traffic came to a crawl and then a halt and Waze suggested taking a side road. As all US1 at this point is all the same, I saw no reason to do this. As I inched past side roads, I decided I should give it a try. I did and had an update issue and missed the turn. Made a few additional turns and got back on the path it suggested. Once there, I saw I was waiting for people to go through a stop sign, basically meaning I was not gaining any ground. I checked ahead on the app and saw there were a bad accident and a lane closure. I also read there was a fatality. Fortunately, when there was movement, I was able to get in front of a slow-moving dump truck and got back in line, just to sit some more.

As there was no movement, I was able to catch up on the podcast, as well as post and respond on Facebook. At some point, I read on Waze that there was a jackknifed truck.

Occasionally, Lily would make some noise and I knew she was still alive. The temp that I was expecting was not even close to what we were experiencing, and Lily seemed thirsty. She lolled her head on the crate, tongue dangling and giving me a look. I tried to give her water, but she didn’t want it. I think she was doing the “Are we there yet?” look. As this was the first long trip with her, not only was she a trooper, but I learned more about her.

Traffic started to move again, and we continued on the way. After a short distance, we stopped. Then people started to gather in the center (turning) lane. I could see behind me that they were pulling off from my lane and just trying to cut ahead. I took a picture of the person in front of me, who cut me off, trying to reverse because he realized he no longer wanted to be there, and the people to the left of me trying to merge. The one that had the reverse lights did eventually get out of line, replacing my new view with someone else, who also cut the line earlier.

The other point of note, while waiting in the newly formed parking lot, was the couple behind me. The woman in the passenger seat seemed to disappear every so often and did so, not by going to the back seat, but bending over to her left. Make of that what you will.

Finally, traffic started moving and one of the cars that were trying to merge kept riding next to the car in front of me. The car in front left room for them to get in a few times, by the center lane driver never took it. We eventually passed the accident and it was a mess. I’m pretty sure I had never seen anything like that in my life. There were several emergency vehicles and the accompanying workers. There were tire tracks in the road where the truck that jackknifed seemed to have stopped and lost control. There were several cars on the side of the road that were involved. I did not look for people that were involved, as that is just a little too gruesome for me. It’s one thing when it is fake, but when it is real, that’s when I step aside. There was tape blocking off the area and the entire left and center lanes were cleared of traffic.

As we passed, I noted that there were many onlookers as there were gaps in traffic in front of me. I’m pretty sure I would not have cared at all, but I know that I have a video record of the entire thing. I would love to post it, but I need to figure it out first. It will be there, eventually, if not too graphic.

As we headed on our way, the traffic speed picked up, and there was nothing else eventful that occurred. I did have a 45-minute delay in dead traffic and was really happy I told the hotel I was going to be there when I originally said, as I was going from being 2.25 hours early to 30 minutes.