Wilson and I frequently joke that life can be a "train wreck". Now we have a good story behind that.
On Saturday night, we ventured to Arlington for a charity event for the Boys & Girls club. It was held at the Howell Farms, a beautifully remodeled farm. The weather was amazing, food was tasty, and live entertainment was super fun.
Around 9 pm, we were visiting with friends in the barn where the silent auction was being held. Wilson had his eye on some rodeo tickets, so he was watching that item. All of a sudden, we heard the loudest crash I have ever witnessed. All the cars were parked on a hill and it seriously sounded like 100s of cars were rolling down the hill and crashing into each other.
We ran outside to see what happened. I failed to notice on our way in that we had to cross railroad tracks to enter the venue. Sure enough, we get outside and see that a train crashed into another train and derailed. Wilson told me later that he actually saw the sparks of the crash. I just heard the wreck and felt the ground shake. We were probably about 75-100 yards from the tracks. Wilson's buddy Quentin was first in line to check on the damages. He climbed up on the train and saw that the conductor was moving and would be okay. The police were already on site for the charity event and sirens were wailing. Amazingly, not a single person was injured. It is simply incredible that a car was not in the intersection at the time of the crash.
We then learned that we were stuck at the venue. The train wreck was blocking the only entrance/exit to Howell Farms. We were assured that Arlington PD was working on a solution. We called our babysitter (a new one who Wilson already had scared while he was screaming at the UT football game on TV) and told her we were stuck but would keep her posted. We called our amazing friends Luke & Shari. They got to our house just after 10 pm to relieve the babysitter. So what did we do? We grabbed more wine and enjoyed the party. There was nothing else we could do.
Around 12:15, Quentin pulled Wilson aside and said, "Quick. Go to your car. They're fixing to announce an alternate exit." We ran to our vehicle and got in the exit line. The Arlington police department severed 2 fences leading to Shady Valley Country Club and lined the cart path with cones. Officers were positioned along the cart path to direct us out. Thanks to Quentin, we were among the first cars to get to leave a party of 600 attendees. We got home just after 1 am and are still exhausted, but so thankful that no one was injured and we made it home.
We can't use the "train wreck" line in the same way again!
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