All are safely gathered in...

Ryan and I knew we were going to drive home for Thanksgiving.  We had been watching the weather very closely since the beginning of the week.  I had to teach at one of my schools on Monday and Tuesday and our plan was to leave Tuesday right after I got done.  We had started to see the warnings for a blizzard-like storm coming through and it was suppose to hit Lehi Tuesday around 5, and then go into Wednesday morning.  We checked the cameras of the roads from here to Boise, and decided Tuesday was the best day for us to go.  I was having a lot of anxiety on Sunday and Monday about going and prayed to know if we should go on Tuesday or just stay home.  Tuesday came and I just felt excitement, and did not feel like we were making a bad decision, but rather, it was the better of the two days to go.  So we were on the road by 11:00.  The roads were clear and dry and we were making good time.  We stopped in Tremonton for lunch and I overheard the clerk say she heard that Sweetzer was closed.  We looked up online on the Idaho roads webpage, and there was a warning that the blizzard would hit the Utah/Idaho border about 2 pm but no road closures.  We had a little over an hour before it hit.  So, we got right on the road.  As we were driving and the sun was shining, we looked ahead, and we could see the massive storm.  The picture below really doesn't do it justice. 

 The clouds were low and dark, and it scared me just looking at what we were driving into.  A little before Snowville it started to snow.  Then the winds came and pretty soon we were in the middle of the blizzard.  We slowed down and semis would zoom past us.  Within 100 ft past our car, we couldn't see them anymore.  Ryan was worried that one of the more reckless drivers would pass us and hit the semi not knowing it was in front of us.  Our visibility was low and sometimes we had none at all.  Just a white nothingness in front of us.  My sister Brook had sent me a text that said to watch the semis and that they drive in this weather all the time.  As we drove past the rest stop just past the Idaho/Utah border, I noticed all the semi's pulling in.  I thought that was strange but I was talking to my mom on the phone and didn't say anything.  Sure enough, a few feet ahead, there was a sign road closed in 1000ft.  In 1000ft the road had a barricade on it, but no one there to say what we should do.  Some cars and Semis had just pulled off the side of the road to sit it out.  I almost told Ryan to do this, but I had to go to the bathroom, so we followed a few other cars over the emergency lane and turned back eastbound.  We pulled into the rest stop and went inside.  Ryan looked up on his phone and it said that the road was closed from Burley to the state line.   We didn't know it then, but it was also closed from the state line to Tremonton.   We were stuck and I was more then grateful we did not pull over on the side of the road.   There were several other people in the same situation as us.  Usually I panic, but I was very calm and optimistic at the rest stop.  We had water, food, our emergency pack, warm clothes, and a blanket in the car.  I felt prepared and I felt overwhelming gratitude that we were in a rest stop that had a lobby.  When the wind started to pick up, and the storm started to really blow through, I told Ryan to break the rules and bring Kula inside.  He shouldn't have to sit in the cold car.  

 This is how we occupied our time.  I spent a lot of my time talking or texting on the phone.  Ryan played games on his and kept us updated on the weather.  We thought the storm would blow through and then we would be able to continue. 

 This was after sitting in the rest stop for an hour and a half.  I was trying to take a picture of when it would go completely white, but of course when I tried that, I didn't capture it.  It was about 3pm, so you can see how dark it was but you can't tell how windy and I wished I could have caught a zero visibility picture because it really did happen.  :) 

 My friend Kari, who lives in Burley and I were talking frequently trying to figure out if the roads would open.  She used to live in Pocatello and was getting really confused on where we said we were, so I took a picture, (mainly from Boredom) and sent it too her.  Once she realized she said there were some backroad highways that were still open and we could go that way and stay with some of her family in Burley.  I hate to say this, but it sounded like a lifetime movie in the making and we decided not to risk it. 

The state trooper showed up after we had been sitting for almost 2 hours.  He said it was his experience that the roads will stayed closed until the following day and to find a warm place.  A couple people started chuckling and someone said, where are we suppose to find this warm place?  He said the road eastbound was open because visibility wasn't as bad.  He said visibility westbound was zero.  There was an odd couple that came and cleaned the bathrooms and they told us to drive back to Snowville or Tremonton if we had too.  The officer concurred.  Most people left.  Ryan wanted to wait it out another hour, but I was antsy about getting stuck in the rest stop overnight.  We decided to go back to Snowville and find a place to stay.  The problem we first encountered was that we had Kula with us, so we had to find a place that would take a dog.  The temperatures were suppose to be below or close to zero and Kula has only slept outside in the summer.  (Spoiled, I know).   His body is not use to the cold weather. 

Snowville only has one motel and by the time we got there it was booked.  The flying J was so packed we couldn't even turn in so we decided to go back to Tremonton.  My dad had told me to call my Aunt Bea and Uncle Irv that live in Brigham.  They are actually my great aunt and uncle and I haven't seen them since I was a little kid.  But, my dad called me back with their number as we were leaving Snowville.  As soon as we got back on the freeway, Ryan said we should have stayed at the Flying J.  I agreed, but what good does that do us now?  We had to drive back through the blizzard, and visibility was far worse then before.  I called my Aunt Bea and she answered right away.  I said who I was and she remembered me right off the bat, which I was grateful for.  She told us we could stay with her as long as we didn't mind Kula sleeping in the laundry room.  By the time we got close to Tremonton, I was terrified.  We couldn't see anything and I started shaking, crying, and generally just freaking out.  Everything was just white.   We didn't know where the road was or the mountains.   Ryan, on the other hand, stayed calm and collected.  He pointed out that as long as we were in between the two reflector poles on the sides of the road, we were still on the road.  So that is what I would look for.  It would get really bad and we wouldn't be able to see, and then it would clear up enough to see the next set of poles.  We slowly made our way back to Tremonton.  We had to make frequent stops to clear the windshield wipers of ice. By the time we got there,  it was 6 at night, and we were hungry and tired.  My dad had called back and said just to find a place to stay in Tremonton.  Every hotel there was booked.  I found a hotel that I thought was only 1.7 miles away that took animals . The reviews were horrible, but in our circumstances I thought it was better then nothing.  We started to go toward the hotel, which was really 17 miles away, and my Aunt Bea called.  She was worried we hadn't arrived.  I had told Ryan I wasn't going to tell her we weren't coming unless we were safe somewhere else.  I told her where we were and she said we were only a few minutes from her house, so we went there instead of our gross hotel. 

When we arrived, my uncle was waiting for us at the door.  They had us park in the driveway so our car wouldn't be buried when the snowplows came through.  They had gotten 5 inches of snow in 2 hours of time.  Then they let us put Kula downstairs in the laundry room and told us they had warm soup ready for us.  My Aunt Bea, who I haven't seen for years and years had gotten right to work since I had called over three hours earlier.  She had made homemade soup and biscuits from scratch.  She also made brownies for dessert.  I was really in awe at how sweet, kind, and accommodating they were.  We talked for a little while, and ate dinner, and then they sent us downstairs to relax.  We watched t.v., the news and weather reports for Wednesday, and then went to bed.  In the morning we tried to be quiet and quick.  We didn't want to put them out any more then we already had.  We got up, didn't shower, and packed up to leave.  Bea came down the stairs and told me we weren't to leave until we had a hot breakfast.  They made us breakfast and then sent us on our way.  I was so impressed by the Christ-like attitude in which two, basically strangers, were received.  I was so thankful for them and that we had a warm place that evening to sleep.  Our first day of driving took 7 hours.   

In the morning, it was only like 2 degrees outside.  Our car started after several tries, and we headed out toward Tremonton again.  We couldn't see when semi's would pass us and kick up dirt from the road, so we pulled over to get some windshield wiper fluid.  The hood wouldn't open.  We tried and tried, and it wouldn't pop open.  Ryan pulled the lever and it snapped right off.  We had to buy pliers to pull the cord to pop to hood, which still didn't work.  We said a prayer for help, and then I told Ryan to try it one more time.  It popped open!  We put in the fluid, and then tried to shut the hood.  It wouldn't shut, no matter what we did. So we drove with it popped, but latched towards Boise. 

This was Ryan trying to open the trunk.  As soon as we got on the freeway, we noticed our windshield wiper fluid wasn't coming out.  It was frozen inside the tubes.  So, we would have to stop and pour the fluid on the windshield in order to see.  We also had to stop several times for wrecks on the roads.  We saw 4 slide-offs, and one car flipped upside down.  We saw a semi that was diagonal in the snow and had the snow up to its tires.  There was snow on the roads, and it took us another 7 hours before we made it to Boise.  But, we made it.  We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family Wednesday night, (I did shower first because I did NOT look cute) and then Thanksgiving dinner with Ryan's family on Thursday.  Friday we went shopping with my mom, Amber, Ella, and Kylene and then went out again on Saturday morning.  Saturday morning it was snowing in Boise, so on our way to the mall my mom suggested we look at the weather and see if we should at least go half way.  Weather in Boise on Sunday was suppose to be good, and they had a winter storm warning in effect for Saturday so we decided to enjoy the day.  My mom dropped us off at her house about 3 and went over to pick up Kres.  I got on the computer for a few minutes and looked up the weather reports in Boise and then in Utah.  I happened to click on the warning and scroll down it.  I wasn't really reading it just looking for any words that popped out.  At the very end it said that Utah was suppose to get a big storm starting at 11pm on Saturday and go into Sunday morning.  It said it would effect I-84 and I-15 and that if travelers had a choice, travel on Saturday.  Travelling on Sunday was not advised.  We packed in a hurry and left after reading that.  I am so glad we did.  The roads were clear and dry all the way home.  We got home about 9 last night.  This morning we woke up to several inches of snow and we looked at the roads online.  The roads were closed from Heyburn to the stateline by ten o'clock this morning.  We would have been stranded again.

  I am so thankful for this time of the year.  For the Lord's guidance and blessings, and for our precious families who give us so much.  I am thankful we made it home and back safely and I am convinced we are here safely by the Lord answering the many prayers of our families.  We could have had a lot worse things happen.  Oh, and once our poor car thawed, we were able to close the hood....but that wasn't until Saturday!