Shit Happens 

First things first, I’m ok, sadly my car is not. On I-40 just outside of Knoxville, TN, I hit some large piece of metal (well about the size of my head) in the road. It punctured my gas tank. I had no choice as I was flanked by semi trucks. Luckily, no sparks were present, and I was able to pull off to the side of the road and call 911. The local fire department arrived and neutralized the gas and my car was towed to a local garage. The tow truck was kind enough to take me to a hotel. So for at least tonight I’m stuck in Lenoir City, Tennessee, in a hotel. Hopefully, they can get a new fuel tank quickly and get it installed today, and I can be back on my way. If they have the part, I was told they’ll move quickly, assuming the only damage was the fuel tank. If not, my insurance company will send me a rental car to use until my car is fixed but it would still mean I’m stuck in Lenoir City, Tennessee. Maybe I can explore some of nearby Knoxville.

I had to cancel my hotel reservations in Virginia and Albany. Hopefully, the hotel in Albany will not charge me as I cancelled a day in advance. My Virginia hotel was not as kind. They are charging me regardless because I did not cancel 24 hours in advance. They didn’t care that I had an accident.

On the bright side, there were no sparks and my car did not blow up with or without me in it. This is just one of those things that happens and it could have been far worse. I did enough crying and freaking out yesterday, I am going to try and remain calm. I will get to Vermont, come Hell or high water.

UPDATE (10am EST): The needed part was found in Knoxville and unless there is more extensive damage than they initially thought, my car will be ready tomorrow. The insurance company is sending a rental car to let me use until the car is ready. It means I’m stuck at the hotel until 4pm when they will deliver the car.