So, funny story...

Today didn't go as I had planned.  I should have known right off the bat that things would go awry.  I had a doctor's appointment this morning just for a yearly check-up.  After the appointment I was going to drive up to Oklahoma to spend the weekend with her.  Drew and the kids were staying at home. 

When I arrived at the doctor's office, the door was locked and the lights were off.  I called the office (They have 2 locations.) to check to make sure I hadn't misunderstood the appointment time and date I made THREE MONTHS AGO.  The receptionist told me they had tried to call, but the number listed wasn't a working number.  "That's funny," I told her, "I haven't had a new number in YEARS."  Anyway, the doctor wasn't in that day, so I would have to reschedule.  Whatever.  No big deal.  I could leave on my trip a little sooner. 

I stopped at a McDonald's to get something to eat and use the restroom.  (I couldn't eat before my appointment because I might weigh half a pound more!  Come on, Ladies, I know I'm not the only one who does that!)  I hesitated getting a large drink because I wanted to make the trip without stopping to use the restroom.  What the heck, I could make it!

I got on my way and was making good time.  I have driven to Oklahoma MANY times, but this time I was going to go a different, faster way.  We have come home that way recently, but have never gone that way.  Drew texted me the numbers of the highways, so I was set.

I made it to Atoka, Ok then Antlers.  I knew I would need to take another highway, but I thought it was 144 I was looking for.  After several minutes I started noticing signs for Broken Bow.  That's weird, I thought.  Why would people drive to Broken Bow this way???  After a couple more signs for Broken Bow I looked at my map app on my phone. Well, I had missed a turn somewhere around Antlers.  I rerouted my map and it showed that I could backtrack to Antlers and find the road I missed or I could continue on and go a different way.  I turned back at first, but then decided to go the new way.  It was about 30 miles shorter to just continue on.  It will be an adventure, I thought!

Unfortunately, by this time my tea had made it to my bladder and I needed to go~ real bad.  When you can feel the size and shape of your bladder, you need to go!  There was NO PLACE to stop.  NO PLACE I tell ya.  No towns, no gas stations, not even a shoulder on the side of the road at this point!  When I finally spotted a bridge with a decent shoulder I decided to just use my McDonald's cup.  What is a girl to do???  Pray no cars would pass me is what I did!  I tell you, my cup was (almost) overflowing.  Good thing I got the large!

I continued on my way checking my map often. I turned on my Pandora radio and was singing along.  My little blue dot was following the blue line just fine and I was getting close to my next turnoff~ County Road N4555.  I never saw a sign, but my little blue dot missed the turn, so I turned around and took the road that my phone showed I was suppose to take.  I thought it strange that the road didn't have a center line.  It didn't have white lines on the shoulders, either.  Strange, but I kept going.  The road started getting narrower and bumpier.  I kept going.  My Pandora kept cutting off and on.  I checked my gas gauge and had about 1/3 of a tank.  My blue dot was still on the blue line.  The paved road turned into a dirt road with rocks, lots of rocks.  In fact, there were more rocks than dirt.  Now my phone said "searching."  Um, okay, I'll keep going.  My dot WAS on the blue line the last time I had cell service and I hadn't turned off anywhere, so I should still be going in the right direction.  I kept driving, but realized I hadn't heard Pandora for several minutes.  My gas gauge now read just over 1/4 full.  (Why does the last 1/4 go so quickly???)  I saw NO SIGNS at all on this road.  NONE.

I finally saw a sign.  It read "Crowsfoot Junction" and split off in four directions.  I kind of laughed and thought this would make a funny post for my blog.  I even took a picture of the sign.  Huh, which one do I take???  Check my map.  No service.  Well, I'll just take the middle(ish) one. I still think I am going in the right direction.  Surely I will see a sign or find a place to ask for help.  I kept driving~slowly.  I couldn't go more than about 15-20 MPH on these roads.  They were that rural and rocky.  Pandora would come on for a few seconds at a time and then go silent for several minutes.  During one of the quiet times I heard a PSSSSSSS.  Oh. My. Goodness. I knew exactly what that sound was.  I kept saying, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO," as if that could make it stop.  Then my tire pressure light came on.  Oh. My. Goodness.  No cell service, no idea where I was, 1/4 tank of gas and I needed to pee again.  It had been at least 30-45 minutes since the paved road turned into rocky road. 

I stopped the car and started to cry. I checked my phone and it said "searching" then it would show one bar.  I got out the owner's manual and looked up how to change the tire.  Needless to say, I had never changed a tire.  Heck, I didn't even know where the spare tire was!  When one bar was showing, I called Drew hoping to get through.  He answered and I just started crying harder.  I'm sure I freaked him out.  I decided to just suck it up and try to change the tire.  I kept Drew on speaker phone until it would cut out and he would call back.  I worked and worked until I finally got the old tire off and the new tire on.  That is a story in and of itself.  It's not easy to do and even harder on a dirty, rocky road in the middle of nowhere.  During all of this Drew had me get on MapMyRun so he could try to find me with the LiveTracking feature.  After a while he was able to see where I was. 

The phone kept disconnecting and we would call each other back.  One time when one of us called the other he told me that he had contacted one of my granddad's friends (Bill) who was going to try to come find me.  I had no landmarks other than the "Crowsfoot Crossing" sign and it was made out of wood and not an official highway department sign.  Drew also mentioned that the sheriff's department had been called and they were looking for me, too.  Oh. My. Gosh.  Now I was REALLY embarrassed and hot and sweaty and I still had to pee.  Thankfully, I still had my cup (I didn't want to litter when I used it before), so I took care of my business again!  Drew and I decided that I needed to turn around and go back the way I had come.  I drove even slower this time because I was afraid of popping another tire, not having another spare and spotty cell service and not knowing where I was yet.  I still had my LiveTracking on, so Drew was following me and we were talking when I had service.

I made it back to the paved road and called Bill.  He was going to wait for me until he knew I was safe.  I'm not sure where he was at this point, he never found me.  I made it back to the highway I turned off on (I had gone about 23 miles on the paved then non-paved road.) and knew which way to turn.  I was now headed toward Broken Bow.  I was a little worried about my gas situation, but my gas light had not come on yet. 

I made it to Broken Bow and found a gas station.  I also needed to air up the spare because it looked a little low.  An old man in a van told me it looked like my tires had enough air and he checked them with his tire gauge.  That was so nice of him!  And, since when have gas stations started charging for air??? A dollar for air???  Thankfully I had four quarters!  Anyway, the little man made sure I was good to go and I went on my way.

Once I got going and realized I was going to be okay, I just started laughing.  I was so scared at one point, but I made it and I learned how to change a tire.  :0)

After arriving at my grandmother's house and looking at a map I realized that I should have been looking for highway 271 out of Antler's instead of 144.  I would have turned onto 144 AFTER getting on 271.  Well, my 4 hour trip turned into 7 and 1/2 hours.  I had quite the adventure today, one that I hope to NEVER repeat!

I am thankful to Drew for thinking when I couldn't and for keeping me calm.  I am thankful to Bill for being willing to look for me when I had NO IDEA where I was!  I am thankful to my grandmother for praying for me.  (She was a little freaked out she said.)  I am thankful for owner's manuals, but do wish there were better pictures in them!  I am thankful for the people who made it to the end of this long story!  Believe me, it seemed longer when it was happening!