so snow stuck

I’m not sure I’ll be complaining about cabin fever for a bit after last night. In an effort to get out of the house we joined Justin’s parents for lunch about an hour south of us. We’d recently had a few days of sunshine tease us so we were a little disheartened when a light snow dusted the ground the day before, but since it hadn’t snowed all day yesterday we thought nothing of loading up the babies and making the trip. (cue disaster music)

About halfway through the drive on the way there the snow picked up and the travel slowed down. I’m not sure if it’s because I grew up a Colorado resident or I’ve been hit by two semi trucks and feel invincible, but it really didn’t seem like the roads were that bad so I was incredibly aggravated how slow things were moving. I wasn’t driving though so I had to sit passively in the passenger seat as Justin obeyed all traffic laws and was a courteous driver abiding by the 10 mph speed limit the drivers in front of us set. We made it eventually and enjoyed a nice couple hours with his parents and then started the drive back, knowing it would take longer than the hour it was supposed to, but never ever imagining what was in store for us:

It took us 45 minutes to go about 12 miles but spirits were lifted when we reached the highway and assumed we would actually be able to start moving, albeit at a slow pace, we wouldn’t be dealing with the stop and go of a small town in love with stop signs. When we got on the on-ramp J had to brake immediately to get out of the way of a van reversing back on to the road and we saw two semi-trucks chillin on the side of the ramp. We looked ahead and traffic was moving (again, slowly but still moving) so we figured we’d go ahead and continue on the highway. (turn up disaster music)

We made it about two miles before coming to a complete stop for the next FIVE hours. Apparently there were a lot of accidents at one time so the frickin county decided to simply close the highway so they could clear some of the accidents… it would’ve make sense if they also permitted people from entering the highway, but they didn’t, so we literally drove on to a closed highway and it was just a matter of time until we caught up with the location that was halted. It would also make sense to close the if they planned on sending plowing or salting the roads to make it safer for drivers after they were opened again, but they didn’t do that either.

So, for five hours we sat in Justin’s five-passenger car with the babies slipping in and out of meltdowns. At one point Justin’s dismay was obvious when he looked over and Bella, Austin and I were all crying at the same time. haha! It only lasted a minute (my crying – theirs was much more impressive) but I was losing my mind. Luckily we had brought our portable DVD player so Bella alternated between a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Christmas episode and listening to Beauty and the Beast on disc. She made it through both about 12 times. (this only aided to me turning into a crazy person).

Poor Austin wasn’t feeling well and quickly got a fever and was restless and pretty inconsolable unless he was laying on my chest sleeping. The extra weight right on my pregnant bladder did wonders… so at hour 4.5 I finally broke down and told Justin we had to figure something out. We were looking through the car and didn’t see any viable options, plus all the cars around us still had their headlights on so running to the side of the road wasn’t an option either. It wasn’t until I saw the beautiful red gleam from a Dr Pepper can I had put out of Austin’s reach on Justin’s side door that I had hope! Justin pushed as much of the top into the can as he could and I made him turn his head as I made use of my superior skill from peeing in so many cups at the doctor’s offices and filled the can to. the. brim. Didn’t spill a drop, I was pretty proud.

Justin had an easier time figuring out how to relieve himself (so unfair how much easier it is for guys!) and as he simply opened his car door and was beginning to breathe a little easier, someone appears out of nowhere one car in front of us and starts waving a flashlight at us. My heart stopped, I heard Justin catch his breath when we realized it was a police officer. Luckily he had no idea the shenanigans going on from our car and was instead waving us on to try to drive up the hill in front of us.

PRAISE THE LORD! Seriously, I did because I knew my good friend from home, Babette, had been praying for us and we turned out to be one of about 10 cars they let go. Justin was a rock star and got us to the top without much trouble, but some of the cars around us weren’t so lucky so they closed the road again and J’s sister who was about a mile behind us had to wait an additional two hours! So, six hours later and the needle now pointing much closer to E than when we’d started we were finally moving and on the way home.

I’m more than a little nervous for the drive to Nashville I’m going to attempt on Thursday because I think both babies are pretty fed up of the car, but refuse to be defeated before trying… so fingers crossed! Lesson learned though, there will be a box in the back of my car with blankets, food, water and most importantly, better entertainment.