1/3/15. The post where we make it home...finally.

1/3/15: with our change in destination last night, we knew our drive today was going to be two hours longer and we would have to contend with a time change that should have happened yesterday.  However, there was no point in getting an early start, because part of the road would not be passable until the temperature got above freezing and the sun came out to melt the ice.  So we waited awhile and left mid-morning.

The ice was gone, but there was still a slushy wet mixture for much of the morning that was making everyone on the road skittish.  As was the vehicle carnage in the shoulders and medians.  There was a steady stream of cars, RVs, and 18-wheelers that were overturned, jack-knifed, or simply abandoned.  We felt like geniuses for stopping early yesterday.

By early afternoon, the sun had completely dried out the road.  However, it was still pretty obvious there had been a storm the previous day.  The road was covered in sand and gravel, and filled with filthy vehicles driven by nervous and frustrated drivers.  We stopped in the only decent-sized town for about 100 miles to eat a late lunch and put gas in the car.  We, and everyone else on the road.  After a longer-than-expected lunch, we made the very disconcerting discovery that nearly every gas station in the town was out of gas.  We drove from station to station, reading the "out of gas" signs on the pumps as our fuel gauge dipped dangerously close to "empty".  The only station that still had gas was a truck stop on the edge of town, and there was a line at the entrance that gave me a flashback to the gas rationing of the '70s.  We started to consider the possibility that we might have to stay in town until more gas was delivered, whenever that might be.  Running on fumes, we got in line and hoped neither we nor the station ran out of gas before we got to a pump, while I worked on a plan B.  And a plan C.  

An hour later, we were on our way with a full tank.  We were pleasantly surprised at how well-behaved and orderly everyone seemed to be, and we hoped the gas supply held out for the long line behind us. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful and we made it home just in time to unpack the car and collapse into bed, because my patient, long-suffering husband has to be at work early in the morning.  I hope they are not expecting greatness.  

And speaking of expectations, we were in the car for about four hours longer than we expected to be, a fact my foot pointed out to me rather emphatically.  Slowly but surely, I am starting to come up with a list of things that irritate my foot, which is helpful, but I sure wish that list were shorter.