December 21, 2008

  • My holiday adventure...

    When I told people that I was driving home to Colorado for the holiday, they looked at me in pity. They wished me good weather and safe travels. I admit, I was worried... However, my trip ended up being a lot of fun despite a few hiccups along the way.

    Drew and I started out trip in the afternoon on Thursday. Our first sign of a good trip was a man hopped up on God-knows-what drug, asking for a ride to the other side of the interstate in Moorhead. We offered to him the idea that there were warm buildings he could warm up in on campus for a bit if he needed. He refused that, obviously more concerned about getting in the car with us than getting warm or home. We turned him away, locked the doors, and headed inside until he left. I felt bad. I just didn't feel safe about making that decision. Anyway, once he was gone, Drew and I said goodbye to our friend Mike and headed out. The roads were perfect and the weather was amazing. We knew of the possible sleet and snow in Iowa and Nebraska, but we weren't too worried. I started getting tired around Sioux Falls/Sioux City, so we stopped to gas up and change drivers. With Drew in the driver seat and snacks in our hands, we headed out toward Omaha. This is when we noticed the rain/sleet/hail. The windows were getting incredibly dirty and the windshield wipers weren't doing us much good at all. We tried defrosting the front windshield to no avail. Once it was finally cleared up enough to see safely, we lost control of the car. We spun out and into the median between the highways. We didn't hit anyone or cause another accident or anything. The car was fine and we were fine. Drew said that I made little whimper/moaning noises while we were spinning. He just kind of was silent and told me it was okay. We looked at each other and immediately high-fived. I said, "We're fine. The car's fine. Everyone is fine." We laughed.He asked if he could take a smoke before we figured out how to get out of the ditch, so he did. I waited, and then we, thankfully, got out and onto the highway with no major scuffs along the way. After a few miles, though, we noticed that the car was not riding properly. There was a definite change in how the car handled. There was this weird shaking in the car that travelled throughout so we had no idea where it was coming from or what it was. We stopped to look at the tires and the car one more time, but we couldn't find anything. After that, we decided to find a truck stop or a car shop to get the car looked at. We were praying it was nothing serious at all. We drove into Omaha on I-680 but didn't find a truck stop that could accomodate us. We drove past Omaha and right near Lincoln when we spun out again. We were on this bridge/huge overpass. There was about an inch and half of slush on the roads. We had been swerving a little every so often, so we were already on edge. Everytime we lost control just the slightest bit, Drew would let out a little sigh. He saved the day and got us out of that safely! We stopped at a truck stop or two and found that what we were looking for couldn't be found until the next morning or unless we wanted to go into Lincoln and check at Schumaker's. We saw a hotel and decided it just wasn't worth it to keep going in this terrible weather, so we got a room and stayed the night. We drank and played Wii, settled in, and slept until morning.

    When we got up the next morning, the weather was a lot better. We saw that there was a little more traffic on the highways, which meant that the roads must have been a lot better. We packed up our stuff and headed for the car. When we got there, it was quite an ordeal to get in because there was a thick layer of ice sealing in the doors and trunk. A nice man lent us his scraper so we could get into the car to warm it up and grab our own scraper. It was a great gesture, of which I am still very thankful. We got into the car when we thought we'd gotten enough snow off of it, and headed back out. We drove and drove but missed the truck stop. We still needed to figure out what was wrong with the car, so we were a little worried about that still. Then, we eyed a Chevrolet dealership in the middle of nowhere and stopped to get my little Cavalier checked out. $42 later, we learned that a lot of ice and snow was packed up under the front tired, which made the car ride wobbly. We were thankful for that and headed out again with a fixed car. After this, our adventure wasn't as crazy, but it was fun. We bought aviators and listened to "Through the roof and underground" from the movie Wristcutters. I had a great time riding into Colorado, seeing the fantastic sun and the rolling hills... the mountains.

    The best part is: we get to do it all over again soon.

    Have you ever had a road trip that was more of an adventure than you had planned?