Sunday, December 21, 2008

Part one - complete

Around Wednesday, we noticed the weather wasn't going to be any picnic for driving Sunday.

Friday, my husband thought we should leave 'as soon as possible' for his parents house.

We hit the road Saturday at 11 am.

What should have taken six hours took closer to nine.

The first two thirds of the trip were, in one word, horrible.

In more than one word: ice, wind, snow, slick, white-out conditions, and down-right scary.

At one point, we came upon a car sideways in the middle of the interstate. Sideways.

There was no time to stop, we were in the left lane and a semi was on our right flank.

We both managed to get around the car.

Barely. Threading the needle.

Cars would pass us, and we'd come upon them in the ditch a mile out.

One of them hit the back of a snowplow.

The I-35 Corridor from the Twin Cities to Mid-Iowa was no place to be Saturday.

We discussed the merits of the multiple 4 wheel drive settings for the Suburban: Auto 4WD, HI 4 and LO 4. Though it is by no means "four wheel stop," it is significantly better than a rear-wheel drive vehicle in the conditions we were in.

Unfortunately, I'd spent the night with a very sick four year old. She was vomiting from 1:30 am to 5 am, and had a couple messy poops in the morning. We ended up in the family room with her on the couch and me on the floor jumping at every little cough.

Fortunately, she 'hit the bucket' every time (after the first, when she barfed all over her sister's bed). That came in handy when in hour seven she needed 'the bucket.' A quick stop later and we were on the road.

We made it in one piece, though.

Today brought Christmas, Part I.

Not sure about tomorrow, but I have a couple gifts to finish up for Christmas, Part II.

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5 comments:

Sissy Jogger said...

Whew . . .glad you made it!!! We were worried about you and just a tad disappointed the weather cleared up enough for you to blow on through town and not stop for our party! At least I got a dry run done on warming up the penthouse . . .it ended up downright cozy! See you in a couple days, anyway:)

MamaMaven said...

Glad you made it safely!

Mayberry said...

My gosh! So glad you are OK! I hope the rest of your celebrations are significantly smoother. Merry Christmas!

MPPs Mom said...

reading about your travels scared me. I'm so glad you made it okay.

I'm sorry to hear the bug got to your little girl. Having just been through it, I sympathize. I hope everyone else manages to avoid the germs and not get it too! Especially while you are away from home.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your family! Can't wait to read part II!

said...

Ohhhhh.....so glad you made it, and I will be thinking about your trip while I'm trying to fly at the crack of dawn tomorrow am - especially when I'm tempted to whine. Unless my husband gets sick on the flight, I'm pretty sure it will be a bit easier, although we are trying to get to the snowy Midwest....

Happy Happy - cheers for part 2!
Lulu