  I'm home and thankful to be so. Since I have been journalling the trip to Las Vegas, I guess it is only fitting that I finish it out, so here we go.... We decided to travel up Nevada for the trip home instead of reversing our path back up Calif. Truthfully, the hubby didn't want to chance crossing the Mohave and getting another ticket. Aside from that aspect, we wanted to see how that route was for the planned trip next year. The route was nice. To some it would seem boring but I found it less stressful....until we hit an area where there were high winds and sand storms.
We were scooting right along when we came up behind a flatbed 18 wheeler hauling a M1 Brady tank, probaby on its way to Fallon. Did I mention the road is just a two-way? At any rate, the way ahead was clear, so hubby makes to pass. Halfway around the 18 wheeler, out of the sandstorm, with no headlights on, looms a white 18 wheeler, coming straight for us. At that moment, I truly believed I had met Death. There was no way I could see of us avoiding a collison of some sort, with us coming out of it, not at all. Somehow, and I am convinced of this, through Divine Grace, my mother's spirit, the expertise of my ex-deputy sheriff hubby and as much help as those 2 truckers could have provided under the conditions, I am alive today to be able to sit here and type this. In retrospect, facing Death was not like seeing my whole life flash before my eyes. That little window of a scene moved in slow motion until the moment we actually moved past the tank's 18 wheeler and back into our rightful lane, then everything seemed to catch up to speed and returned my consciousness back to the fast pace it had left for just those few moments in time.
This leasson, whatever it might have been for me or my hubby or the tank 18 wheeler's driver, I KNOW there was one in it for that driver of the white 18 wheeler... drive through a sandstorm with your lights on..you never know whose life you could save. I hope he got it. I know that if the hubby had seen even a hint of headlights coming from the south bound lane, he would never have attempted to pass.
When we got home and I related the incident to my kid brother, he said something to me that has given me something else to think about when I have a moment to spare. He said, " Did you ever give thought to why it was a white 18 wheeler? Of all the colors there are, what were the odds of this one being white? " I don't believe in coincidence. Everything always happens for a reason, even if we don't grasp it and maybe never will.
In my lifetime of travel on the road (and believe me there has been plenty) the number of white 18 wheelers I have seen, I could count on one hand and have leftovers. Go figure. All and all, despite the tribulations, we had a good time. It was nice. It was enjoyable. I look forward to my return trip next year. Tuesday, we simply relaxed, did nothing, became mushrooms, sleeping when we wanted to, eating when our body demanded it..and Life.. including trials... is worth living. 
