Texas... or so we think.


I stand by the kitchen island. A burst of fresh snow-filled air rushes in as Joshua enters the house. I look at his incredulous face. He reports that the Excursion just started sliding out of its parking spot by itself due to the high winds, heavy snow, and foundation of ice that was under it in the first place. It stopped after a bit, but...
We’re hitting the road. Heading for Texas for Christmas and GYC. Or so we think. I fall asleep in the dark car even though it is only 6:30 or so in the evening. I wake up around 8:00. We are traveling at about 35 mph. Visibility is maybe 10 feet. I’m wide awake now! We continue slowly on. Forget Tucumcari. If we can make it to Socorro (normally 2 hours from home, but now a much longer drive) we’ll be glad. Several more miles and we see blue and red lights ahead through blinding white. This is too much. Highway 60 closed. Now what? 


We settle in for the night. If the road opens, we’ll be here to go through it! We pull into the post office parking lot. If you want to hear Sean’s rendition, go here. While this is an unfortunate situation, we’d rather laugh about it then any other reaction. So it takes awhile for us to wind our amusement down and go to sleep.   
10 to midnight I awake. Father is conversing out the open window with a friendly police. I’m sleep dazed. Moments later Sean, Joshua, and Father are out in the snow, wrapped in their dress coats, pushing a patrol unit buried past its axles. If I weren’t so out of it from just having awakened, I would laugh at the irony of the sight. The guys come in covered in white, while the police blinks his lights in a cheerful goodbye. We laugh in delight. We are sleeping in our van, and dub it the “Town and Country Inn.” It takes us a while to return to our fitful sleep. Every couple hours we drive around, get out of the drifts building up around our car. 2:00 a.m. 4:10 a.m. 6:00 a.m. We start stirring, even though it is still dark outside and there isn’t much to do awake. We dig Bibles out. 
Daylight comes, with wind still whipping, snow still falling. We watch with amusement while vehicles all around us do doughnuts in the snow, get stuck, get pushed out. We talk to Mama and Chantée, stranded in Albuquerque. We talk to our neighbors, stranded in southern NM. And we try to decide what to do, how to proceed. All three New Mexican interstates are closed. We’re stuck in the state. Keep us in your prayers, and we’ll keep you posted. :)    

Sit still for 1 hour and the snow drifts to a foot and a half on the leeward side.

Our friends who chose the motel might need to book for another night! 

P.S. We just got the go-ahead to drive on the closed road, so we're off. There's between 1 and 2 feet on the road. Sometimes it comes over our hood obscuring the view. 

Comments

  1. I'll be praying for you're safety, and watching for updates as you continue you're adventure!

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  2. And, strangely enough, Minnesota, which usually has snow like this from November to March, has absolutely NO SNOW--except for a little dusting on the road from the flurries this morning!

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  3. Good things are going to happen at GYC and the devil is angry! Drive safe!!

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  4. I must admit one of my first reactions when reading both this and Sean's rendition was to laugh. But I thought it rather in appropriate considering the circumstances. However, since you gave me permission I am now laughing. ;)
    And praying that our good Lord gets you to your destination safely!! Stay warm. Love you all!

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  5. It's Sabbath, Christmas Eve, Daddy's Birthday, and we were just reunited as a family!
    Happiness abounds!

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