Went to the white mountains in New Hampshire last weekend for a 3 day snow filled adventure. It was an adventure. Day one , did some wonderful snow shoeing in Franconia Notch State Park , saw the flume - a frozen waterfall and gorge crevice - very cool. Drove down scenic Kancamagus highway and hit some trails there including another frozen waterfall - sabbaday falls. Stayed at Woodstock inn which owns a few old houses around itself- we stayed in the building across the street. It was nice ...nothing to jump for joy about. After a long day of snow shoeing - we looked forward to the health club they advertised that was within walking distance with gym equip. , pool , and hot tub. It turns out that the walking distance health club is no longer available but we were given a pass and parking certificate for the gym at Loon mountain (10 min drive) - We were given pretty inept directions , pulled onto the roadway for the mountain resort (jam-packed to all hell at 4ish with people leaving en-mass) and promptly got lost within this mass. Despite all the people leaving , the area that we believe the gym was at was completely full. All parking under garage required one to pull in , drive to the rear , realize that there are no spots , and then perform a 12 point turn in order to turn around unless you decided to slam the car in reverse around corners at breakneck speeds in frustration as was performed by myself during the 3rd or 4th attempt. I promptly screamed and cursed and tore off thru parking lots , and slammed on brakes and then slammed on gas pedal and then yelled and screamed at Lori , and cursed the witch at Woodstock inn who provided us with improper info. Went back to room , took a nap , felt better and ate a nice dinner at the Woodstock brewery. We were on diets up until this time so having a steak dinner was quite a heady experience.
After our excellent breakfast (included) we headed up north to Bretton Woods , New Hampshire for some cross country skiing. It was about 40 degrees and raining , much warmer than the previous day , but the rain was supposed to stop. As we got near Mount Washington the weather changed to ice and sleet and finally snow. As we entered bretton woods nordic center , right across from the beautiful Mount Washington Hotel , we plunged into a blizzard , high winds and driving snow. Having never cross country ski`d before , and with the winds causing the pelting snow down every nook and cranny of our outfits , we decided that this was not the day for beginners to learn to x-c ski. Yes, we wimped out.
We headed back to the hotel. My intention was to attempt going to the gym again after securing explicit directions from the inn owner. The blizzard did not relent and soon the highways were covered with slick icy snow , unmolested by plow or sand , as the storm came quick and heavy.
Apparently one can get whiplash driving at speed of only 15-20 MPH despite having 3 car lengths notice and attempted avoidance of instantaneously non-moving vehicles in front of us. We ended up the 3rd car in a 4 car pile up. There was a 5th car , we found out later , that caused this episode by sliding into a guard rail in a one lane area of the highway causing car #1 to slam on brakes to avoid hitting him , cars #2 to promptly crash into him , whilst I hit my brakes , downshifted , released brake and attempted to slide my way around car #3 ....unsucessfully ...causing # 3 car to slam into # 2 car whilst # 4 car crashed into my side. You may have noted that I said it was a 4 car pile up , that 5th vehicle drove away unscathed and unidentified. Did you catch all that ?
Everyone was o.k , Lori and I didn`t know there were any physical issues until much later and we have since recovered. Just had some stiff and uncomfortable neck issues for a few days. Front left corner of car and hood simply crumpled , battery fell out ...side doors were pushed in ...i`m guessing not totaled but the subaru WRX is Effed up. A few $60 cab rides , a partially paid rental that I can`t return in ct but must return either in NH or upstate mass (I thought enterprise was nationwide ...guess not) and a ruined weekend later , we made it home. I have no status on the car as yet as the insurance company dropped the ball on having the adjuster out to look at it. I just know its gonna cost me money. The accident is not my fault but I have a feeling its going to cost me my 1000 dollar deductible on collision. I am hoping it will be totaled so I can get a Subaru Forester (so I can put kayaks on it). Then I won`t have to drive back up to NH to get my repaired but value-diminished WRX. I expect to get screwed on this as well. I`m hoping this is one of the few times my negativity is unwarranted and inaccurate.
UR by Stephen King