I heard today that the average high across the country was 35 degrees. So I’m not the only one suffering from the cold. Last week many areas were slammed by one of the biggest blizzards in recent history. And it fell at a time when many people were trying to take to the roads. Us included.
Alicia, my sister, Kristen and I left Tulsa around 4pm on Christmas Eve and by that time, the roads had begun getting pretty glad. Thanks to a coworker of Alicia’s who overheard us worrying about the travel conditions, we were able to borrow a 4-wheel drive Jeep. Travel started pretty slow but picked up once we hit the Missouri border. Once we hit KC, we were traveling at near-normal speeds and then we hit St. Joseph. Going 65mph, we passed a sign that said the road was closed ahead. We were shocked. Things seemed to be getting better and we discover there’s a 30 mile stretch of Interstate preventing us from getting home on Christmas Eve.
We pulled off the road into a Days Inn an got a room for the night, hoping to get on the road early in the morning. We called the Missouri Department of Transportation and checked on the road conditions early the next morning and everything was still shut down. The interstate south of us was also closed so we were stuck. We kept checking MoDOT throughout the day but there was still no change. So that was my Christmas. Stuck in a Days Inn off the interstate. We had lunch at Denny’s, dinner at IHOP and were even able to find a Walgreens open to get some snacks and make-shift sleds!
We finally made it out Saturday morning and up to Omaha. Had some good time with the family and made it back safely. Despite the fact that it was Christmas, we really did make the most of it and it won’t be a Christmas we’ll soon forget.
