Confessions of an Uptown Girl: Alternative Route

Every morning on my way to work I always hear something like this: "Condition: yellow, Southbound 75 you're backed up Royal to Spring Creek - gotta stalled vehicle in the right hand lane, causing heavy congestion." Neat. I usually hear something similar right as I'm pulling out of the office, too. Also neat.

However, in all the weeks I've been driving downtown, stuck in stop-and-go traffic on my way to and from work, I've (surprisingly) never heard these words: "Take an alternative route." Until today, that is. Well, there's a first for everything, right?!

As I'm entering onto the freeway this morning, beginning my usual commute, I flip on the radio to catch the traffic report. What's the first thing I hear? "Southbound 75, you've got a major accident at Blackburn, backing things up all the way into Plano. This one's gonna need an investigation and you only got one lane gettin' by right now. Uhh you're gonna want to take an alternative route if at all possible." I'm still unsure as to what they meant by "investigation" and was halfway tempted to continue on the southbound 75 route and merge into the rubberneck crowd to see what the scandal was, but decided to heed the traffic reporter's suggestion instead and cut over at the High-Five.

Then, just as I'm pulling out of my office's parking garage today I hear this: "Northbound 75 you got an 18-wheeler accident at Forest Lane involving multiple, multiple vehicles. You're gonna want to avoid this area if you can, the liquid spill from the 18-wheeler is uncontrollable. I suggest taking an alternative route."

Really?! Twice in one day?! Needless to say, North Dallas Tollway, 635, and I became great road buddies today...I mean, we DID have a splendid three hours of bonding time ;) But in all honesty, I didn't really mind all the traffic for once. Why you ask?

Because of this girl:

Meet Julie, my best friend.

She had the job of keeping me sane today whilst I whittled away precious time sitting on the ~~parking lot~~ freeway. We've been best friends since our freshman year in college when we both discovered our mutual love of Potbellys, country music, Captain Morgan spiced rum, and cowboy boots.

Although life has played a cruel joke and separated us into different metroplexes five hours

apart, we still manage to pick up where we left off every time we talk - like today!

Below are just a few pictures to pay tribute to our beloved friendship.