Road Trip Out West

Hello everybody and indeed.

This is the blog all about our road trip. The original plan was to supervise the movers, and then in 4 consecutive nights, hit Nixa, MO; Amarillo, TX; Flagstaff, AZ; and then finally Pasadena, CA. Not so...

Monday: Chicago, IL
So we hired movers to pack up a truck and drive our stuff to LA and to unload it. They were amazing! They giant Saran wrapped all our furniture and then taped blankets over all of it, and did it all in amazing time. They were masters; if you have the means, I highly recommend using movers for all your moving needs. Anyway, so they finished at 5 pm so it was too late to drive to Nixa, MO (destination #1) so we stayed in Chicago overnight at the Carter's (delay #1).

Tuesday: Chicago, IL
After learning that Tyler's mom in Nixa had been without power (due to a drastic ice storm), thus being without heat and water since the previous Saturday night, we decided to wait until Wednesday to make the first leg of our journey since the weather was supposed to warm up that day. Plus we had things to wrap up in the windy city.

Wednesday: Nixa, MO
Today, we said good-bye to our city. The city we met in, dated in, went to college in, made friends in, and got married in. We drove 9 hours to Missouri. It was dark by the time we got there and still without power, but the last hour of our drive was amazing. In the brief flashes of light from lamp posts and headlights, we saw the damage from the ice storm that had left much of the state in the dark. Twigs were encased in ice 3 times as thick as the twig. Icicles were hanging from things at an angle. Tyler said it looked like Frozone had hit everything. Even the grass was frozen solid.

Thursday: Nixa, MO
The night before we had each taken a Tylenol PM to help us get a good night sleep before our journey ahead, but we took it too late so Thursday morning we overslept. After realizing that we had to shower somewhere else, eat somewhere else, visit with Tyler's grandma there, and pick up a suit he was having altered, it was going to be 4 pm and too late to leave that day for Texas, hence Delay #2. But it was so much fun to be around at 5 pm when the power came back on at Debra and Ed's. Tyler and I got home first and noticed the power was back. So to surprise Debra, we turned everything off and even unplugged the decorative tree out front so when they drive up to their house they would be none the wiser. After Debra gloomily entered the dark and still cold house, I flicked on the lights and watched her rejoice. It was priceless. So we spent the evening watch "My Cousin Vinny" on TV.

Friday: Amarillo, TX
So we got on the road again, optomistic about the rest of our trip. Shouldn't have been, and I'll tell you why. First of all, Oklahoma is WEIRD! The whole state. Weird looking lanes, weird tolls, lighthouses in the middle of fields (nowhere near bodies of water), and weirdest of all, they insist on putting the shape of their weird looking state on every sign. Weird. Nuff said. For the most part the sky was clear, the roads were clear, but the last hour was scary. It started to sleet and it froze to our wiper blades, which we already knew had needed to be replaced. At one point I couldn't see, so we pulled over to snap the ice off the blades, and I broke the driver's side blade. %$#@. Thankfully we were only 30 miles from Amarillo. Our plan became to just get to the next hotel and stop, but the next hotel became the one in Amarillo, so we made it to our destination.

Satuday: Vega, TX... ...again: *&^%!! (delay #3)
So we wake up and there is nearly a foot of snow covering our car. So it had iced over the night before and then snowed 9" over it and was still coming down. But we looked at the weather channel and it showed the weather ending literally at the Texas/New Mexico border, so the further west we got, the better it was going to get. We ate a local diner, got our blades replaced at Walmart, and were on our way. Thirty miles and nine semis in the ditch later and we decided to call it quits for the day at 11:30 am. Sucky. The town we pulled into was the town depicted in the Disney film, "Cars" just covered in snow. The only road in the town was literally the historic route 66, complete with abandond hotels and gas stations left and right. Thankfully we found a Best Western and good thing we did that early because by the end of the day, they had turned away at least 40 people trying to get in from the blizzard. The only place to eat was the truck stop and the only item on the menu that wasn't dicy was a grilled cheese sandwich. Sick. Hello, Glenda! Sick, sick, sick! Their vegetable options were: pinto beans, refried beans, green beans, and potatoes. Again: sick. This was by far the lowpoint in our journey (and keep in mind we stayed somewhere for 24 hours without power.)

Sunday: Flagstaff, AZ
There is just now way we are staying in Vega another day, so we wake up at 7 am (Tyler, too!) and get on the road. It was still a mess. Our max speed was 40 mph and at that it was scary. I was driving and my knuckles were white from gripping the stearing wheel. At one point I fishtailed right, corrected, and fishtailed left all the way into the left lane. Thank the Lord that there wasn't a car driving next to me or passing me, because we would have been in a serious accident. But after about an hour and a half of that, the roads finally cleared and we were on our way. The day started in snow and ended in desert. I have never been to this part of the country, so this was all new to me.

Monday: Pasadena, CA
We were planning on taking a quick side trip up to the Grand Canyon, but even Flagstaff had gotten a light snow overnight and a 3 hour trip up and back did not sound fun to either of us. After all the rigameroll of the 3 delays, no power, and a near in-the-ditch experience, we just wanted to see some palm trees. I honestly think it was God working in us, making us just wanting to get there, to look forward, and to not get depressed and not look back, because I know that without all the turmoil, that's what I would be doing. So I have to say that this leg of the trip was the only mildly scenic one. Anyone who told us that it would be beatiful the whole way was lying. It was flat and grose. But at last there were hills, and I neglect to say mountains on purpose. The day started at 27 degrees and ended at 85. It was amazing. We got there at 3 pm and had time to relax at the house we were staying at. Tomorrow was going to be our first day of apartment shopping...

...stay tuned for the next blog about our apartment search...