We have had so much going on lately that I have neglected one of my favorite things to do on my blog...Flashback Friday! And this isn't a great post since there is ONLY one picture, but the story is something to share for sure!
Yeah...so NOT a fun trip. We had just moved out here and it was our first Christmas to make the trek from Arizona to Kansas for the holidays. Gentry was 5 months and Huntler just over two. So just imagine...
We can laugh about it now, but at the time it was definitely NOT laughable! I mean, what is funny about spending two days stuck in a mini van with two small children and horrible weather? Not to mention that you can't brush your teeth or take a shower and you have on the SAME clothes you started the trip out in? YUCK!! You are tired beyond belief and just want to get home???!
Here is how it all unfolded (as well as I can remember anyway...I am quite certain I must have blocked bits and pieces out to remain sane!). We were headed back home after spending Christmas with our family in Kansas. We had left fairly early in the morning and as it was getting dark, I start talking to Chris about deciding where to stay for the night. See, I HATE to travel in the dark...HATE it! I have some extreme phobia of hitting a wild animal or Chris falling asleep at the wheel...you will come to learn that I have some neurotic issues!!! Since I am this way when someone else is driving, you DEFINITELY don't want me behind the wheel. I am a danger to everyone on the road at night...imaging little eyes peering at me from the ditch and seeing the outlines of animals (that really aren't there) in the shadows...not good. Moving along...
I had told Chris that we should be thinking about getting a room for the night and he basically told me to close my eyes and leave him alone...he was wide awake and was fine. Of course, he is so NOT harsh at all, so it was much kinder and gentler, but my way makes for a better story!! Just kidding - well, it DOES make for a better story, but he was nice about it!
So my eyes had literally not been closed five minutes and it starts...the pelting sleet, rain, hail, frozen snow mixture. And not five minutes later we are at a stand still on I-40. A LONG stand still. In the mean time the snow starts to fall and it is seriously like a blizzard is going on all around us! We had been flying along making great time and suddenly a blizzard just hits? So, after we sit there FOREVER (I can't remember times anymore...that is part of the memory that got blocked!!), we finally started creeping along again. And I do mean creeping. While we were stopped I called ahead to make hotel reservations but as we soon discovered, there would be no hotel stay that night. (I called 'em back, explained the situation and life went on...)
Keep in mind that Gentry was formula fed and we had no water to make a bottle...none. So I was in a severe state of panic this entire time! People were outside of their cars roaming around and talking to other cars...it was something you would see on a movie!
By some miracle we crept along enough (about a mile) to reach Clines Corner, New Mexico and that is where we spent the night in our car, along with hundreds of other travelers!! Believe me, it was an experience...we didn't sleep well at all, but we did manage to doze a bit. Clines Corner is no more than a truck stop...a gas station and a little shop with cheap souveniers and junk food, but they had a bathroom and bottled water and those were the two most important things!!
In hindsight we are so fortunate to have been so close to such a place...I know there were hundreds and hundreds of others who were stopped in the middle of the highway (they just shut down the highway when it gets bad) with no bathrooms and no water or food.
We ventured out again during the wee hours of the morning...they had reopened the highway. We had no more than gone three minutes and they shut it down again. So, back to being stranded. We slept in the car for about an hour and a half until it was reopened and got back on our merry little way again. The already long drive of 15+ hours took even longer that trip...we had to take an alternate route home and everything.
That is not a trip I will forget anytime soon! We have now learned to triple check the forecast before heading out during the winter and also to ALWAYS carry water with us! Gentry is long off formula, but with kids in the car, you can never be too cautious!
I took several pics of the snow that day, but as I was looking back at them, they are blurry and just not worth sharing. So, instead I will share with you our favorite little truck stop on I-40! We honk every time we fly by on the highway!!
(We took this picture from inside our car...that is not our van...but look at what a crazy scene it was!!)
Tidbits Left by
4 comments:
Oh my...don't think I'd heard that story before. Barrett is almost 5 months now, and I can't imagine going through that!! Don't let that happen again ;)
wow----that sounds like quite the little adventure, I can't imagine!!
Sounds like quite a night! Well, I find that the things that go wrong or off schedule on a trip are the things you remember and the wild stories you share through the years.
That is a nightmare! I cannot even imagine. I freak out if we are stuck in traffic for 30 minutes. In the sunshine. You all deserve an award!
Post a Comment