While I Was Away
I stopped posting mostly while we were working on getting the house ready to sell. But in that time, I took the kids who were off track (Dallin goes to the different school, so he was left out) to Colorado to have some time with Nana and Papa and a day on the slopes.
This was Logan's first day of skiing. He picked it right up an loves it. Porter, who was hanging out with Nana or Papa (as they swapped duties in babysitting and skiing with Emma) had a blast watching us ski and I decided to take him down the last couple of runs for the day. He loved it.
Some pics from the trip.
On the way home, we opted to leave a day early and try to outrun the storm. It beat us, and it probably would have been best to stay an extra day. I-80 was fine until Rock Springs when the heavens opened up (at about 6 in the evening) and snow started piling up. The road was closed after Little America, there was a 25 car pile-up that they were working on. Deciding to risk it, I and my 3 kids hopped back in the car to continue our journey. About 30 miles out from Evanston, we came upon one huge line of semi trucks. I just guessed, based on what I could see, somewhere between 800 to 1000 semi truck just parked on the side of the road. They were all waiting for the road to open up. I was stuck. I couldn't go forward, and there was no where for me to turn back. I did have cell service, so I did talk to Tiffany as well as my parents for information - isn't technology great. Having no idea how long we would be there, I said a prayer, along with the kids, that we would be safe on that cold and snowy evening, preparing mentally to stay the night in the middle of Wyoming (or at least in Southwestern side of Wyoming), on a cold (the temperature reading from the car said 22 degrees) and snowy night.
After waiting for about an hour, all the semis started their engines and started moving. I went to talk to one of them, and they said that the road was opening. This was a lucky break, Emma decided that she now needed to use the bathroom about 10 minutes earlier. I opted to find a way to get her to go outside the car, but she wouldn't hear it. I just wasn't prepared for this issue. It took another half hour from there to actually get moving, but then the trek had just begun. There was a 7 mile valley we had to get through. Steep going down, steeper going up. The roads were packed snow, with snow heavily coming down. Add to that 800 semis all around you and it was a white knuckled drive. All with a young girl doing her best to not have an accident. We got to Evanston and Tiffany had called and told me that there was no way I was taking her babies the rest of the way and she made reservations in a hotel in Evanston. As we slid into the hotel parking lot, I was grateful she did. The news reports were saying we would be there for the next two days. Emma ran into the bathroom and she was happy we were staying as well.
The next morning, I opted to give the roads a try. It was a little crazy in spots, but the roads were generally wet with a few slushy spots. A little crazy coming out of Parley's canyon and into Salt Lake City, but we had made it.
I would have been fine if I was by myself. But with three pieces of precious cargo in the back, it upped the ante a ton.
But sometimes the best things in life come in hardships. We are glad we took the opportunity to go to Colorado. The whole experience will be remembered for a long time to come.
Cheers,
Nathan
Glad to be back, the kids remember the experience and mostly thought it was fun.
This was Logan's first day of skiing. He picked it right up an loves it. Porter, who was hanging out with Nana or Papa (as they swapped duties in babysitting and skiing with Emma) had a blast watching us ski and I decided to take him down the last couple of runs for the day. He loved it.
Some pics from the trip.
On the way home, we opted to leave a day early and try to outrun the storm. It beat us, and it probably would have been best to stay an extra day. I-80 was fine until Rock Springs when the heavens opened up (at about 6 in the evening) and snow started piling up. The road was closed after Little America, there was a 25 car pile-up that they were working on. Deciding to risk it, I and my 3 kids hopped back in the car to continue our journey. About 30 miles out from Evanston, we came upon one huge line of semi trucks. I just guessed, based on what I could see, somewhere between 800 to 1000 semi truck just parked on the side of the road. They were all waiting for the road to open up. I was stuck. I couldn't go forward, and there was no where for me to turn back. I did have cell service, so I did talk to Tiffany as well as my parents for information - isn't technology great. Having no idea how long we would be there, I said a prayer, along with the kids, that we would be safe on that cold and snowy evening, preparing mentally to stay the night in the middle of Wyoming (or at least in Southwestern side of Wyoming), on a cold (the temperature reading from the car said 22 degrees) and snowy night.
After waiting for about an hour, all the semis started their engines and started moving. I went to talk to one of them, and they said that the road was opening. This was a lucky break, Emma decided that she now needed to use the bathroom about 10 minutes earlier. I opted to find a way to get her to go outside the car, but she wouldn't hear it. I just wasn't prepared for this issue. It took another half hour from there to actually get moving, but then the trek had just begun. There was a 7 mile valley we had to get through. Steep going down, steeper going up. The roads were packed snow, with snow heavily coming down. Add to that 800 semis all around you and it was a white knuckled drive. All with a young girl doing her best to not have an accident. We got to Evanston and Tiffany had called and told me that there was no way I was taking her babies the rest of the way and she made reservations in a hotel in Evanston. As we slid into the hotel parking lot, I was grateful she did. The news reports were saying we would be there for the next two days. Emma ran into the bathroom and she was happy we were staying as well.
The next morning, I opted to give the roads a try. It was a little crazy in spots, but the roads were generally wet with a few slushy spots. A little crazy coming out of Parley's canyon and into Salt Lake City, but we had made it.
I would have been fine if I was by myself. But with three pieces of precious cargo in the back, it upped the ante a ton.
But sometimes the best things in life come in hardships. We are glad we took the opportunity to go to Colorado. The whole experience will be remembered for a long time to come.
Cheers,
Nathan
Glad to be back, the kids remember the experience and mostly thought it was fun.
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