Making the trek cross country to be "HOME" for the holidays. I'm getting excited to see the snow. The snow topped mountains in Flagstaff were beautiful! But the beauty of the snow started fading near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Matt usually gets us through the mountains and I take over and drive the incredibly long stretch from Flagstaff to Albuquerque. Once closer to Albuquerque I started seeing more and more cars in the ditch. The roads didn't seem bad, but this started making me nervous. Traffic started slowing down and it was getting harder and harder for the large semi-trucks to get up the hills since they were started to get icy. I didn't feel comfortable anymore. We stopped for gas just outside of Albuquerque. I went in to go to the bathroom and get some much need caffeine for Matt so he could continue driving for us. I overheard the cashier telling another truck driver that he wasn't going to make it to Albuquerque. That he should stop and stay for the night. There were a few pretty major accidents on the nine mile stretch to the city, roads were completely iced. I was trying to convince, even beg Matt to stop and stay for the night. He kept convincing me that we would just keep going until we couldn't anymore. My thoughts were, "And where would that leave us? On the side of the road somewhere? In a ditch?" I knew I wasn't stopping him, so I held on for dear life and tried not to scream or cry infront of the kids. I was on the phone with my dad trying to find the best route for us to go. I could see the National Weather Service warnings for Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. There was no way we were getting through going that way. Our only option was to get as far North as possible and get away from the blizzard that was pounding through New Mexico and Texas. Only problem, WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT RIGHT NOW!
I am trying to forget everything we went through to get to Nebraska for Christmas. I know that for most of the time we were in New Mexico we did not drive more than 15 miles an hour. I know that there were times you could not see the road. I know there were times we could not see the front of the car. I know there were times we could not see ANYTHING! But my husband kept driving. I prayed harder than I have prayed for anything in my life.
We headed North once we hit Albuquerque and headed for Colorado. Kind of funny that we usually avoid Colorado because of the weather and mountains, but now that is exactly where we are headed to avoid the weather. I cried and prayed until we hit the Colorado boarder. About 30 miles north of the boarder the road started to clear and it was much easier to see and drive. I knew Matt was not able to stay away much longer, even though I had not slept during the time he was driving (who could when they are praying for their life) I knew I needed to switch him so he could sleep. I was able to drive through Colorado Springs and all the way to Denver before I knew my eyes couldn't stay open any longer. We stopped for gas again and switched. After nearly 27 hours of driving we finally made it to Nebraska. We made it to my mom's in time for our family Christmas. She could see in my eyes what we had been through, took the kids, and told us to go nap! That might have been the best Christmas present ever! I'm so thankful to be home for the holidays, but I'm not sure I want to do that again E.V.E.R!
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