"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

It was so horrible. So vivid. So real.

It took me at least a good 30 minutes to realize that it was just a dream -- and shake off the anxiety it caused me.

socKs and I were driving home from my parents yesterday after a nice visit.  As we were on the Washington Capital Beltway (or I-495, for those of you who know the area), there was a bit of construction which narrowed the Beltway down to one lane in each direction. But that lane zigged and zagged through the maze of bridges over the C&O Canal and the Clara Barton Parkway before entering into the longer bridge span over the Potomac River.

I was going fast -- too fast, perhaps, for single lane driving. And I lost control. The car went plummenting down to the surface below, which happened to be a parking lot for the park area alongside the river. It must have been an 18 foot drop at least. Miraculously, socKs and I were okay. Shaken up, but okay. The car was on fire, though.  We scrambled out and dialed 911.  The car was destroyed.

And then -- a call to my father to tell him that we were okay. His advice: don't tell the insurance company about this at all. Just buy another car and hope they won't notice the difference.  I was still badly shaken up.

And when I woke up this morning, I honestly wasn't sure if we still had that car. Or if it was a dream.

Eventually, in the shower, a few things dawned on me slowly:

* Why wasn't av in the car with us? We were taking him home as well...

* How could we survive an impact of falling 18 feet onto concrete in a vehicle without as much of a scratch on us?

* How and why did the incinerated car end up in a mechanic's shop which only happened to be in the parking lot where we landed?

* Why did the American Legion Bridge appear like a bridge would appear in a video game?

and, most importantly...

* Why was I driving the white car -- the one I had traded in to the dealer in 2003 to buy our current family car -- when we no longer have it?

That last one threw me for a curve. It would certainly explain why Av wasn't in the car with us; he didn't have much experience in that car before we got rid of it.

I was thankful to see both of our cars parked outside when I left for work this morning.