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I left for Cedar Rapids, Iowa on December 20th.  I did not see a lot of snow fall, but vision was a little distorted by the wind that was blowing the snow that was already on the ground.  I came to an area where I did not see any snow on the highway.  I had just passed Grinnell, Iowa and was heading further towards Iowa City.  Other cars had sped up because it appeared clear.  All of a sudden the car started to slide.  There must of been some hidden snow or ice.  I quickly got control of the car, but then one second later it started to swerve again.  Once again I was able to get control of the car.  But, then the car swerve again.  Except this time I was going for a ride of my life.  I don't remember for sure if the car swerved all the way around, but I do remember some fancy twists the car took.  I slid into the middle meridian and the car finally came to a halt.  I assumed at that time that I was safe since I was away from the highway.  I can only think of the horror that went across the other driver's faces as they saw me twisting all over the highway.  If they would not of slowed down in time, there surely would of been a five car pile up on the highway.

I sat in the car for a moment and got out to take a look at the situation.  I was not too far from the highway, but I was not going to get out of there on my own.  Pushing the car out would of required more than one person.  I also did not have any type of shovel that was going to help get the snow away from the tires.  I called a road side non-emergency phone number.  A police officer showed up less than five minutes later.  Right away he put a yellow banner over the car that read something like, "Do Not Cross".  This made it look like a crime had just been committed at my car.  The police officer had me put the contents of my car into his police car.  I made a second trip to the police car.  I think the police officer must of thought I was going to try to ride in the back of the car.  He said, "You can ride up front".  In my mind, I was thinking that I have had a bad enough day that I was not going to make this any more exciting by riding in the back of a police car.  I got up in the front seat and he drove me to a motel in Grinnell, Iowa.  I got the phone number to a tow truck service and called them.  Since there was a "no tow" order in effect, there was not going to be any towing allowed until the next day.

I made the best of the motel visit, but was very disappointed in the internet connection.  The connection kept getting lost and sometimes it seemed like the speed was that of dial up.  I finally got tired and got in bed, but was woke up to what appeared to be a wild party outside my window.  I looked at the clock and it was right around 1AM.  I then realized that the sounds of yelling people was not coming from outside my window, but actually from in front of my door.  I peeked out the peep hole of the motel room and could see a bunch of young people staggering all around and yelling.  I stayed there for a while hoping that they would go to their rooms.  I watched people  go back and forth between rooms as if it was a highway.  Then they would stop right in front of my room and talk loudly.  Finally, I could not take it more and opened my door and firmly asked, "Could you be just a little bit louder"?  They told me how sorry they were and quickly went into the room across from me.  Then about five minutes later, the whole situation took place again.  Except it was other people passing in the halls that sometimes stopped in front of my room.  I looked out the peep hole and could see the manager coming down the hall.  She told them that there had been several complaints and that they needed to be quiet or get in their rooms.  However; it took two more trips from the manager before there was silence.  Finanlly, at about 2AM, it got quiet.

The next day, the tow truck service picked me up to take me to my car.  The guy got out to pull out another stuck car before we got to my car.  When he got into the truck he leaned over to me and asked, "Will you do me a favor"?  I think I muttered in a very uneasy voice, "What?"  He asked me if I would drive the car he just pulled out of the ditch to the next exit.  I was rather shocked that he would ask such a question.  However; I was cold, tired, and a little strained from the whole trip.  At that point, I would of done almost anything to just get my car and then get down the road.  I agreed to drive the car and then got in it to follow behind the tow truck.  At this point, I could imagine my trip turning worse when a police officer arrests me for stealing a car.  Since the keys had been left in the car when it was in the ditch, it would not be a very believable story that I simply was driving the car for someone.  Then a worse thought came through my head.  What if the car hits ice and I wreck the car?  I don't know how I would explain that one.  Either way, I was going to drive that car.  I drove it to the next exit and then got back into the truck.

This story would have to get worse.  After asking if the tow truck driver took credit cards, he promptly responded by saying that he did not have any card machine with him and that it was back at the office.  After he got my car pulled out, he had me follow him to the gas station so that I could go to an ATM machine.  He told me that the bill was $180.  I was a little stunned at the price, but knew it had to be paid.  I figured that I needed a little spending cash too, so I was going to take out $200 from the ATM machine.  I put my card in the machine and requested a withdrawal of $200.  The machine flashed an error message stating that my daily withdrawal limits would be exceeded.  I then typed in $180 to be withdrawn and agreed to the $2 service fee the machine would charge.  I knew that my bank would also charge another $2 fee and I would not have any green cash for my trip.  Which I felt funny paying for a cup of coffee, later on, with a credit card.

After I handed the money to the tow driver some rather angry thoughts went through my head.  I remembered that the tow guy said that his office was about two blocks from the gas station.  Why was it so important to have me pay cash when his office was so close?  I had to pay cash, was charged ATM fees, drove someone's car and I believe I was over charged.  All he did was pull me out of the meridian and not even tow me any place.

Either way, my adventure in Grinnell, Iowa was an interesting one.