Wanted : stories of missing time, page 1

I had an incident happen to me in 2000, but it's a little different from the usual lost time stories, and this has happened more than a few times, I checked afterwards, and was a little surprised.

I lived outside Winslow AZ, doing odds and ends, Geology, working as a mechanic to pay bills, and as a hobby( Brits don't often get the chance to fix American cars and get paid for it.

Anyhow one night I was heading home from a friends house, which is located at the visitors centre at Meteor Crater, there is a road which comes off the side of the Crater and heads east towards Winslow, not a very well know road, due to the restrictions out there, it's a little more than 15 miles long and usually took about 20 mins, when I felt brave it could be done in a little over 17 mins.

We had for months been watching lights flying over the forest, flying back and fourth between the east and west, the whole visible forest was covered on some nights in about 5 seconds, and that's a long way, a visible field on a moonlit night of about 40-50 miles from the Crater rim (Gorgeous)

Ok the night I'm talking about, I left my friends house, and as usual he said he would call my then Wife and tell her to expect me, can get dangerous out in the desert, and if any cars are out there at night, they are up to no good, so I would pull off and hide behind a small hill, it happened more in Winter, because illegal loggers used the road also, and this is February, even the most hardened Meteor Hunters don't do much. the temp can drop well into the -20's so I was expecting to see a logging truck heading the same way.

A part of the road passes by a trans continental line junction box, which runs parallel with the road, anyhow when I hit that box I know I had 7 miles to go and checked my watch, I cant remember the exact time, but maybe about 01.15, I saw headlights in the rear view mirror, but decided I would be well clear of the road and home before it gets anywhere near me, if it wasn't loggers, the loggers are real slow, and often pulled out of the way to let me past.
I got a little worried when I hadn't seen it dip with the road because the lights where constant, I put the lights out of my mind and drove home, I opened the door to enter, and my wife was on the phone with my friend, he was telling her I had just left and would be home soon, he thought she was kidding when she told him I had just arrived.

We spoke for ages online talking about it, my friends wife, was being her usual self and was telling us we were banned from doing what we had been (staying out late with friends watching and winding down) we checked our times, my Wife had been chatting online and the message box where she had typed BRB to answer the phone said 01.15, and I pulled up less than 30 seconds later.

I hadn't put my foot down because I had 1 beer, and I never drink so that is enough or too much when I drive, the ground had frost on it, it's fine on the straight parts, but going downhill on a bend, isn't a good idea when it's frosty, my friend told me I had left his house 01.05, He knows this because the security required a number to get out, he checked the log, and it showed that time, the clock was correct, Linked to law enforcement, so had to be, so I had covered the journey in just over 11 mins, I didn't lose time I gained it, and this wasn't the only time, but I don't want to go there.