Real Winter

Last night I drove back from Missouri. It was a great drive, the kids were fine (even though the DVD player is on the fritz...sigh) until we got about 20 miles away. Then we started to see snow, and more snow...and everyone slowed to a crawl. The heavy snow combined with the high winds made for some great white out conditions. It was ok as long as I was following someone. The GPS said that I should arrive home at 5:30 which put me about 30 minutes past Caleb's next feeding. I thought that it was worth it so that we could just get home. Little did I know.

The crawl never improved. It got slower. The snow picked up, the wind picked up and you couldn't tell where the lines on the road were. I was thankful for the rumble strip and the barrier. I spent the majority of the last twenty miles trying to keep the rumble strip between my tires. Then at 6:15 it was time to exit. I made it across three lanes of traffic and saw the first exit for Michigan City. I thought that I might take it because then I could finally pull over and nurse Caleb and let Nate run around in the van. I started to pull over and realized that I didn't have a clue where the exit actually was. I couldn't see the road and I knew that it was a ramp that went up so if I missed then I would be in big trouble. So, I got back on the road and decided to try the next exit five miles down the road. After listening to more screaming and more crying we finally made it to the next exit. Thankfully the snow let up enough that I could see the road and we made it safely off the interstate. It was so scary to see oncoming traffic and realize that there was no barrier! I was the first one in line and I didn't have anyone to follow...even more scary. I finally pulled over and let someone pass me. They were far more brave than me! I was finally in the home stretch! Only a few more miles! Caleb was still screaming and Nate was starting to cry just to keep him company. I didn't want to stop because we were so close to home and visibility was so poor. (It was about 6:50 and the snow was easily a foot deep) Finally my GPS told me that I needed to turn into my neighborhood. I missed one of the turns onto my street and I had to go up a pretty steep hill but my car couldn't make it so after we slid back down to the bottom of the hill I turned around to see if I could figure out the other way to get home. I knew we were only about a block from our house. (Pretty scary that I couldn't figure it out! What did they do before GPS?) We finally made it into our driveway at 7:15, I have never been so excited to push the garage door button!

Some pictures around our house this morning. I have a new respect for snow. I am so thankful to have made it home safely.