So the last blog I did was my birthday in April. Since March I had been secretly planning Russ’ birthday. I had decided to fly Brian and Cathy down (Russ’ parents) to surprise him at a beach bonfire party we were planning.Everything lined up perfectly and we decided to have the party on May 15th, a week before Russ’ birthday. We got there and set up and guests started coming and mingling. Russ was just sitting down to roast a hotdog for himself when he heard behind him “Hey are you roasting one for me?” He turned around and there was Brian.It was awesome to see the double take and then the excitement as he realized his parents were there. I had been so Stealth about it that he didn’t even realize what hit him until the party. Here are some shots of the night.
Brian and Cathy were able to stay for two weeks. So we ended up doing a lot of fun trips. That Sunday we went to visit Russ' Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and Grandma.
One Thursday we went to the beach and then down to the outlets to shop.
Russ had a planned race that weekend in Palmdale so on his real birthday night we all met up at BJ’s for his birthday dinner. My dad, Jen & Chris, Brian & Cathy, Russ and I were all there to celebrate. Afterwards, Russ, Baxter, and I went in his car and Brian and Cathy went in there’s to make the long trip to Palmdale.
By the way, this is the scariest story of my adult life. Russ and I had to stop for gas in the beginning so Brian and Cathy were a good 20 minutes ahead of us. As we reached LA the 101 interchange came up. Right after the interchange we hit a bump or something in the road. Russ’ car came crashing down hard on the concrete road. He started to lose power in his car. He started shifting to see if maybe he could get power in one of the gears. We were in the fast lane and so he was going a good speed that he started to drift over. But I don’t know if you guys know that area, but another freeway comes in right there and merges from the right, so there’s a whole bunch of bridges and merging cars and no place on the right had side to pull over.
As Russ is shifting gears trying to find one that works and trying to get over 4 lanes, a lady in a van pulls up to us and starts flashing a flashlight at us. Her window is down and she’s yelling at us “Your cars on fire! Your cars on fire!” By this time we can see smoke. I’m trying to help Russ figure out a plan, but he’s hoping that the car will drift long enough to find a place to pull over. In my mind, I’m thinking Baxter doesn’t have a collar or leash anywhere near me, so I’m going to have to hold him tight wherever we get to.
Luckily, Fourth Street exit came up to our right and Russ was able to pull over enough on side dirt of the off ramp. I open my door and see flames under the car. I forget about my purse and everything in my car. All I have is Baxter and my phone and I start running down the off-ramp.
Now, for those of you who don’t know. Russ has a pretty souped up car. There are tons of after market parts that he’s put into the car including a methanol kit, which boosts the car, but also has methanol lines installed. Since we’re on our way to the race, his car is filled with tires, all of his race stuff and a 5-gallon tank of methanol (to replenish the 5-gallon tank he has installed in the trunk of the car). As I’m running away from the car screaming for Russ to follow me, I turn around and see all of the dirt flying up in the air, flames coming from under the car, and on this dark not-very-used off-ramp, the lights of cars on the freeway passing us by. And there was Russ opening all of the doors to the car and getting the methanol and some of the more dangerous items as far away from the car as he could.
I pulled out my cell phone from my pocket and called Brian and Cathy and said--- “There’s a fire. Stop wherever you are at and turn around.” I think I might also have been screaming at Russ to get away from the car at the time… so I probably totally freaked them out. My next call two seconds later was 911. As I’m waiting for the dispatcher to find my location, I watch Russ open the hood of the car. Flames start coming out of the passenger side of the car. I started yelling at him even more to get away from the car and just leave it. He had another idea instead of just running. He found some coolant and a water bottle and started dousing the fire. The coolant made the flames a little higher. At that moment, I felt like Russ was going to die and my whole world was going to end. Literally. My body was so full of adrenaline, grief, and pure fear on not being able to run back and help him. It was the absolute worst feeling in the whole wide world.
Once Russ started throwing the water bottle onto the flames, it started to die down. Within seconds the fire went out. The fire truck couldn’t find us, saying we weren’t where we told them we were. They arrived about 15 minutes after the initial call which is pretty sad. Once they did find us, they were followed by a CHP officer. The fire chief looked at the car and claimed the fire to be out. They checked the area around us and once we said we had a tow truck on the way, they took off. The CHP officer came and looked around, made sure we were all okay and then headed off. (Russ was sweating bullets that he was going to get a huge fine for all of the modifications on his car, but the CHP officer didn’t say or do anything about it).
Once Brian and Cathy got there and we were waiting for the tow truck, I went in the car and said a huge prayer. We were so blessed that Russ was okay that he was quick enough to get the fire out. My body hurt so bad from the stress of the event that I fell asleep waiting in the car. The next two days I didn’t do anything since every muscle in my body hurt.
Russ and his parents still headed up to Palmdale the next day since they already had another little birthday get together planned with the Palmdale crew.
So I guess that's all I have time for tonight.... more to come soon!!!!
