Lightning and I are not BFF...

Ok so I never did get around to telling my story about the lightning storm we drove through in upstate New York a few weeks ago and I suppose there is no better time than the present.

Chris and I drove to Cooperstown, New York to attend the Hall of Fame ceremonies honoring those being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For those of you who are actually interested in reading about that weekend you can do so over at our sports blog. Give me a day or so though to get it all up and posted. I have been busy, cut me some slack;) For those of you who are too lazy to go over to the side bar and click the link I have kindly put the link HERE for you. But don't leave yet, you have to read this post first.

So after a long day of touring Cooperstown, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum waiting outside the hall on the Saturday night to try and catch a glimpse of many of the stars of baseballs past and perhaps get an autograph or two, we decided we should be heading back to Albany about an hour or so away which was where we were staying. The weather had been threatening all day long and now that it was late (12am) and dark the rain was starting and the thunder was cracking and before long the lightning was lighting up the sky all around. We ran through the pouring rain to the car, hoping all the way that the lightning would not hit any of the trees surrounding us as we ran along the sidewalk. Finally in the car all safe and sound we started to drive and head toward the highway. Little did we know how crazy this storm really was.

We had about 10 miles or so to drive on a small 2 lane highway completely surrounded by trees. You would think this would make me feel better considering the lightning is likely to hit the trees before it would the car. But no, it was ridiculously terrifying. There were flashing literally every 2-3 seconds. I am not talking pretty flashes off in the distance, I am talking giant bolts of lightning touching down beside, in front and behind us. It was crazy. The lightning was so bright and so often that it lit up the entire sky so it looked like it was early morning. We thought once we reached the main highway things would be better and we would be driving away from the storm. But no, the storm literally covered the entire northern part of the state. So for the next hour or so I was in constant fear of my immanent death. I am not afraid to admit how terrified I was. I even cried a little. I was convinced that was how I was going to die. A giant bolt of lightning was going to blast our car and I would be left a black smoking pile just like in the cartoons.

Then the other day Chris and I were driving into the city and decided to go across the Tobin Bridge. The Tobin Bridge is a very tall and long bridge that crosses the Mystic River and takes you toward downtown Boston. I had said to Chris that perhaps the bridge was not the smartest place to drive right now because of the lightning we were having. Apparently we get thunderstorms EVERY day now. Chris assured me we would be safe on the bridge because the lightning would hit the bridge and not cars and we would be fine. As we were a little over halfway across the bridge a GIANT bolt of lightning hit the railing directly to our left about 10 feet. It was bright and it was loud and it scared the crap out of us. We had Belle in the car and I thought she was going to poop right there in my lap. Moral of the story. DON'T drive on large metal objects during a lightning storm.

I said to Chris "maybe God is trying to tell us something!" lol. Whatever it is, I sure hope he tells us soon because I am a little tired of almost being struck by lightning.