1) It was my friend Michelle's birthday and I wanted to surprise her
2) I missed my friends and
3) I wanted to see Jared and the crew.
I had kind of sworn off driving long distances in the winter, since my car is getting really old and had some major issues last winter that really weren't awesome to deal with. But I had checked and double checked the weather and all road conditions from Utah to Pasco for the days driving, and felt okay about making the trip. I got some work done of my car before we left, so i would feel confident about driving.
We were going to head up Thursday early morning, driving straight thru to Pasco...be up there a couple days and drive straight thru again on Monday. Wednesday afternoon I got done with my work, and decided to pack Q and the car up and drive up to Burley to stay with Clinton for the night and cut our driving time the next day. We were planning on stopping and seeing Coco anyway, but this way we got more time with him.
Q is forgetting more and more about the people in Moses, which is sad, but for some reason she has not forgotten Coco and especially not the fact that she rode on his tractor on our way to Utah last spring. She was super excited to see Clinton, and did not leave him alone all night.
The next morning we got up bright and early and made our way up to WA. The only hiccup that day was when the knob that controls the heating and cooling in the car decided to break off and for 30 minutes it was FREEZING in the car while I tried to fix it. Oh car, how you make me crazy.
We made it up to Washington a lot earlier than I thought we would, and I was excited to have time to stop and see my friend Melanie, her kids, and especially her newest addition to the family. I wish I would have gotten pictures of Q holding cute little Owen, cause she was in love. She loves babies, and loved being big enough to sit on the couch, hold him, and give him kisses. We hung out there a bit talking and of course LAUGHING. Gotta love Melanie. Also, a big shout out to Milo who entertained Q with books and voices. She loved it!
We then headed over to Jared's to drop off Q. Lindsay was kind enough to watch Q all weekend so I could hang out with Michelle all weekend. awesome right? Q was pretty excited as well, and was not sad to see me go. Q had a weekend full of wrestling, XBox dance, dolls, and lots of good times. (I will try and forget that Jared gave Q cheerios...as he knows that's a no no)
Jared and Lindsay have an Xbox Kinect...Q became a fan!
I spent Sunday evening at Jared and Lindsay's so we could leave early Monday morning for our trip home. Q was excited to see me, and just wanted to cuddle. One thing I love about this girl is that she is happy when I leave her and happy when I come get her. She spent most of the afternoon on my lap, and even fell asleep cuddling. I was happy to hold her.
We were both not excited to leave the next day but it had to be done.
and thus the worst part of the trip...
I was super frustrated though cause it was snowing (it wasn't supposed to be), but I checked road reports and everything looked okay....
IT WAS NOT OKAY.
It was literally snowing the whole time, and was horrible in the Blues. Cars and semi's were in ditches, and it was so cold that the snow was freezing into ice on my windshield wipers, so I couldnt even see out of my window. To make matters worse, my check engine light started blinking in the midst of this mess, and my car started sputtering, and was not working properly at all. I was freakin out. The car would work okay if I went above 2 RPM, but with the weather so awful, I couldn't go fast and the car was basically sputtering at slow speeds. I made it to Le Grande and pulled over. Kim sent me numbers to auto shops in the area, and I got my car to one quickly. 2 hours, and $$$$ later I was back on the road with a new "ignition coil" and the knowledge that I was now positive that I would never drive long distance in winter again. My car is too old, and like me, HATES the cold. We drove thru snow all the way to Nampa, where we stopped for gas, lunch, and a text to Clinton to see if we could stop there again for the night, since my nerves were shot, and I knew I couldn't make it home without freakin out. We stopped for a bit, to kill time as Clinton was working, in Twin Falls and the moment I got out of the car I realized that I was not feeling well. I don't know if it was just nerves, or maybe motion sickness from driving in bad snow, but my body felt like it was perpetually in motion, my head was spinning, and I was just shakey. We got to Clinton's that night, I put on comfy clothes, laid on the couch, and was just happy to be out of the car. plus, Q was excited to see coco again.
That next morning, we got up and slowly got ready and back on the road. the weather wasn't super awesome that day either, but we made it home fine. I felt super yucky that night and couldn't stand up without feeling like I was going to pass out. Q took good care of me, and we just laid around all day.
It was a super fun trip, but I was glad to be home.
I'm kind of sad about this whole car thing. I feel like a bird who's wings have been clipped. That my desires are held back now because I don't have the resources to do what I want. Q is so good in the car, and I quite enjoy long car rides, but it's just not possible anymore. My poor little escape has been a good car, and I need it to last a lot longer, so I guess I need to be kinder to it, and take it easy. sad sad day.
2 comments:
tell Q there's more Cheerios where that came from! such a suckfest of a ride home. love you.
Okay why isn't Q allowed Cheerios? And sorry about the Blues. Kyle and I just went over them and even though down below it looked like a beautiful day, it was HORRIBLE up there and I literally couldn't see more than just a few feet in front of me. I HATED it.
Post a Comment