Travel Trauma!

So our family likes Valentine's day OK, but what we really like about it is that Auntie Kinsey's birthday is that day.  Rhett came with me to pick out a birthday card for her and was determined to find one that was "numbered" because almost all of Brock's had numbers on them and that's just cool.  Um, not too many "26" cards out there.  But he was determined and started picking out number cards.  He recognized a 50 card and asked "is 50 close to 26?"  Bah ha ha.  I had a hard time not giggling as I explained that Auntie probably wouldn't appreciate a 50th birthday card.  I snickered when I told her.  Good thing she has such a great sense of humor and laughed as well!

To help celebrate her birthday this year I decided that me and the kids would pack up Monday and leave right after piano lessons to head for Cardston where everyone else in the family was gathering for supper.  We wouldn't make it for the food but Grammie and Grandpa were in on the plan and agreed to stall her so she would still be there when we got there.

Everything was going according to plan.  I was super mom and had everything packed and ready to go, taught my lessons, did the last minute pee breaks and prayer and we were in the truck, on the road by 5:00.  Supper was packed and passed out, movie was on and we were cruising.  And then we hit Innisfail.  Hmm, that looks like white stuff falling out of the sky.  Huh.  Road and weather reports were supposed to be clear.  Hmm, well it's not bad so let's keep going.  Before I hit Bowden I was down 20 kms in speed and had felt my back tires slip around a couple of times.  By Airdrie I was down another 20 kms and getting really worried.  Zane was texting Cliff for me and all the road reports were finally updated but showed we should run out of it right away so we kept going.  The south side of Airdrie was worse and by the time I was halfway thru Calgary I was seriously stressed.  By the time I got out of Calgary it was pitch black and I was crawling along the hi way at 60 k.  All you could see was white ditches, white road, and white snow blowing at you.  People were still passing me which made any visibility I had turn to nothing and I was doing all I could to stay in a straight line.  I quickly realized I was not going to outrun the storm and started weighing my options.  Trying to cross the hi way and head home again was not appealing - didn't get me out of the storm and I was worried about trying to cross that many lanes of traffic with such limited visibility.  Keep on going was not a great option, and stopping on the side of the road wasn't going to work either.  Instead, I decided to try my best to get us to High River.  My Aunt Connie lives there, as well as cousin Caley and I was hoping we could crash for the night with one of them.  The boys and I said a prayer that we would continue to be safe, and I continued to silently pray that I would find the exit.  I've never been to High River.  And the snow was starting to cover the signs on the side of the road.  I knew we had passed by one exit and decided to try and take the next one.  I finally saw one posted as the business exit for High River and almost didn't take it but decided I could find a gas station and maybe they could come find me there.  I aimed and prayed and we made it off the hiway.  Thank goodness!  I slowly followed the exit into town and stopped as soon as I saw houses.  After a quick text to Cliff to let him know I wasn't still driving I called home to get Aunt Connie's number and promptly lost it when Dad answered the phone.  I was so stressed and so glad to not be driving anymore.  I calmed down a little, called Aunt Connie and was thrilled that not only could we crash, but we were only blocks away from them!  And they could SEE me from their window!  I felt so blessed and protected by my Heavenly Father in that moment.  I had been sure that my effort to keep my children safe on the hiway wasn't going to be enough, and every time some new vehicle would pass us I would tense and brace for the ditch that I was sure was coming.  The kids were troopers though, and after getting us and our stuff in the house they roared around and were their loud normal selves.  I shook for a good half hour after being in the house.

Brock and Connie's dog Striker fought over monkey baby, and Brock declared "Dog! Bad! Bad! Dog! no Baby!"  Striker went back into his kennel until we went to bed.  Poor Striker.  He just wanted to play and really wanted that monkey.  The kids all settled in really well and slept great.  I was so exhausted and thankful to be safe...but also worried about what morning would bring. 

Bright sunny skies and lots of snow on the vehicles greeted us in the morning.  The roads were reported as not great both north and south of us so I decided to just keep heading south so I could at least see Kinsey and do the dinner and movie she and mom and Lish had planned.  Another heartfelt prayer, and 80kms/hour from High River to Cardston finally found us at Grammie and Grandpa's house.  Cousin Paxton and Grandpa were waiting for us and the boys were more than happy to be out of the truck!

We had a great time playing with family, and even squeezed in a couple of hours with our Johnson side...and then started the trip home.  We left Taber at 7:00 and 10 minutes in I was wishing I had left straight from Cardston when it was nice and sunny.  The roads were perfect, the stars were out, no clouds to be seen and yet I was fighting back the panic.   I think the stress and helplessness I felt driving down affected me more than I thought.  But I did make it home, and hopefully driving at night will get easier again.

I'm not trying to whine or get glory from writing this, more trying to find some closure for me.  Even typing it and re-reading the experience is making my heart race a little.  And the odd thing is this wasn't my first blizzard or driving a far distance in nasty weather, but it was the first time I had my children with me, and I felt absolutely helpless to protect them.  I still feel like I made the correct choices based on the information I had but it was one of life's experiences I hope to never repeat!