Thursday, December 27, 2007

On the Road Again, I Can't Wait To Get on the Road Again...

Well, I most certainly CAN wait to get on the road again. When I was a teenager, I actually really enjoyed my various drives from Provo back to Montrose where I would crank up the volume on the radio and sing as loudly and as badly as I wanted to. In fact, most drives I arrived almost hoarse from those nearly six hour drives. I even thought, from time to time, how I would love to be a trucker just chugging down the road listening to my tunes, singing and chatting on my CV radio to other truckers...
How scenarios change when you add a four year old and a barely one year old. I knew the drive from Gilbert to Montrose would be long (it's 11 hours if things go well), but I couldn't imagine how poorly it would really go.
We started off by finding ourselves on major icy roads--in Arizona!!! I realize that northern Arizona gets snow, but I never really take it all that seriously since I don't live there. Well, just before we reached Holbrook (the town with all the dinosaur replicas for you who have driven this path) the roads were really bad. I was driving--I like to drive okay. Like I said, I was driving and we were last in a line of about six cars. We were all going about 25-30 miles an hour. All of a sudden, I see the car in front start to spin off the road. I gently applied my brakes and watched as our car started to fall off the road as well.
It was really a little bit surreal as I didn't panic and neither did Derek. It was like one of those action scenes from the Mission Impossible movies where everything is in slow motion. In fact, during the car sliding off the road, Derek looked at me and calmly said, "Audrey? Blah, blah, blah" (I don't remember) I said, "Derek, I am putting on the brakes." So lovingly spoken to each other--must be the Christmas holiday spirit or something.
When we finally stopped, I was glad to see no one was hurt although it did wake Owen up from his nap, which is plenty enough damage in my book. Out from the car that originally slid off the road emerges three of the skinniest teenage boys you'll ever see. I promptly employed these boys as well as Derek to try and push the car back on the road. Given that the total weight of the four combined was probably about 450 pounds, I wasn't giving much hope to this activity and sadly, they couldn't do it. We had to wait until the highway patrol came and towed us back on the road.
The fun doesn't stop there as we slowly wove our way to Cortez, Colorado. Upon our arrival there, we called my grandma only to find out that there was a crazy snowstorm by Telluride and they were requiring chains and possibly closing the whole pass, so we needed to turn around and go to Utah and venture through that way. Well, Moab was clear as the reports promised, but Monticello was a nightmare. Derek was about to fall asleep, so we switched driving again and I drove the rest of the 14 hour drive home. Yes, 14 hours in the car with the kids. In the first two hours Ryanna asked that terrible question, "Are we almost there yet?" at least five times until we mentioned Santa's route may be flying directly past our house if she didn't desist. Owen was actually an angel and cried a tiny bit on and off and slept a lot. This is quite an improvement since the last time this drive was made he screamed for two hours straight without stopping.
After all of this driving, I can most definitely attest to the fact that Willie Nelson did not drive in snow-packed roads nor did he travel with small children or his lyrics would be greatly altered. I would also like to offer my greatest thanks to the creators of the portable DVD player. Bless you.

12 comments:

Melissa said...

Sounds like an adventure! It always is with kids. I hope you guys had a great christmas. We'll have to get together soon.

Kim said...

Sounds like tons of fun! We drove to San Diego this summer for Grant's wedding, fortunately there was no snow involved, just long hours. I hope your return trip sees a better outcome, although with all the snow that came this week that might be asking for a lot! Good luck!

Jenn Toon said...

WOW! You are sooo brave! Kids, long drives, bad weather - only Christmas and family would drive us to do that! :)
Keep in touch!
www.toonfamilyarizona.blogspot.com

Lara Neves said...

I'm impressed with you! We just plain don't go if there is going to be much snow. :)

Glad you arrived safely and I hope your drive back (if you haven't already driven back) is better!

Lacey said...

UGH! Didn't you guys have problems the LAST time you drove to Colorado...I am sensing a trend here! Here's hoping for safe travels home!!!

DONNA J. said...

I'm glad that you guys arrived safely!!! It was MARVELOUS seeing you, Derek, and your beautiful children. There never is enough time to visit though!!!! I hope that Owen's ear infection is getting better and he's starting to have more energy!!! I loved seeing you and hope to see you again...soon!

JenW said...

i've always said you are one of the bravest women i know! i'm glad you all made it in one piece:)

Kim Skinner said...

k, sorry but your bookshelf is covering your post. hope you had a good christmas.

SHERI said...

(Your bookshelf is covering your post)

Glad you guys made it back safe. What a crazy drive! I would have panicked.

Heather said...

Crazy!!! I used to love roadtrips so much as well. I seriously thought it would be fun to be a trucker too. Luckily, I decided college would be a better route.

I'm glad Owen was better this time. And yes portable DVD players are an amazing invention.

Steph Bowen said...

Hey, how did you get the layout to work? I followed the directions and just couldn't do it.

Anonymous said...

Man, I love reading your blog. You make me laugh. Glad you guys made it back in one piece!

Oh...I've FINALLY updated my blog with 2 new ranting entries, FYI. Gonna try to do better during the new year. You've inspired me.