The Yellow Dog Adventure

Here's a story that's hard to believe, but it's ALL true. Two weeks ago Aaron, Maggie and I were in the car headed to Lancaster for my niece and nephew's swim party. Caitlin just turned 6, and JD is 3. We were quite on time and planned to grab a quick bite to eat before we got there. Traffic was pretty heavy but not too bad. We decided to take the HOV lane on the south side of Dallas. Those of you that have gone this way know this is kind of scary. It's completely closed in on both sides, and there are no exits for probably 5 miles. I mentioned seeing a yellow dog(AKA school bus) ahead of us because I was griping about how I don't think that buses should get to be in the HOV. We were probably 15 cars behind the bus. We're moving along at a relatively good pace when all of the sudden we come to a stop. We didn't just slow down. It was a complete and total, put on your parking brake stop. Lo and behold! What do I see? That yellow dog has broken down in the HOV lane ahead of us. There is NO WAY OUT! About 15 minutes into the ordeal, another bus comes in the northbound lane and stops with the help of a police car. All the kids get out, jump over the guardrail and get onto the other bus. So they're all free, but we're still stuck. Maggie starts to get pretty restless about this time, so we get her out and let her wander free in the car. There's not a whole lot to do though. We notice the couple in the car behind us has started playing cards. At least 2 different gentleman walk up the bus to try to render some type of aid. People get out of their cars and look around. I got out to see how many cars were behind us....as far as I could see down the HOV lane. Then I took some pics and got back into the car. After sitting for an HOUR AND A HALF, a tow truck finally comes to get the bus. We sat there for an HOUR AND A HALF with a baby with nothing to do. I can't say that I was in good humor the whole time, and I can promise that I will NEVER get into an enclosed HOV lane again. Yes, people, this too can happen to you.