Adventure has always been a long held
dream of mine. Adrenaline mixed with fear and a thirst for something
crazy. Something to look back on and be able to tell a story. Yet
routine and ho hum has often been the feast rather than the famine.
Until the last 24 hours.
Yesterday, as we looked at the weather
online and gazed out the window where speckles of snow were still
falling on several inches of freshly fallen snow, we had to make a
decision. Should we leave now and get halfway to our destination, or
should we wait til the morning when the weather was to be clear. We
prayed about it, ate lunch, and decided to head out.
The roads were partially clear, and as
people passed us there would be mini whiteouts. We made it through
okay for the first three hours. Then the roads got worse, the sun
set, and the snow covered road became obscure as gusty winds whipped
the fluffy stuff around. The ditches that had only seen a few cars
and semis earlier became increasingly filled. Every time we passes
one, my heart would sink a little as the question came whether that
would be us in the next mile or two. It increasingly became wise to
consider the possibility of finding a hotel. So we did. The first
hotel we came to said they were full. The next said the same. Finally
by the third, we booked a room and crashed there; glad to be safe and
out of the cold. The storm was to blow over during the night and so
we'd set out again in the morning under the warm sun.
Amidst snow drifts and snow covered
ice, we set forth again. Twenty miles down the snow covered road we
fish tailed, did a few slippery turns, and put our front two tires in
the snow bank. Putting the jeep in four wheel drive, we pulled out
and faced oncoming traffic until there was an open space to run
around.
We got off on the next exit.
Consulting the map, we decided to try
an alternate route. We got lost Mendota, asked for directions, still
couldn't figure out where we were, and finally found the road. We
poked along for ten more miles and came to the interstate. It looked
clear, so we jumped back on. But when that interstate took us to 39,
we discovered that 39 had not improved and we still felt unsafe to
travel with people who still were trying to go 60 miles an hour on
ice and snow. We got back off, got turned around, took roads not
found on the map. We followed the GPS for a bit until we got our
bearings again and made decisions to keep going through the middle of
Illinois through town and country that rarely saw a tourist much less
a New York license plate.
The roads kept getting better as kept
going. We tried to keep our spirits up regardless of the seemingly
endless day. The snow certainly was beautiful as it stuck to the
trees and bushes. And there was humor to be found as we laughed at
the memories already being made.
Three hours from our destination, we
finally got back on interstate and the roads were beautiful and
clear. Flying along at 70 miles an hour after putzing through the
prairie at 25 to 40 miles an hour was exhilarating.
I chomped at the bit inwardly. I had
been looking forward to being earlier, settling in, and enjoying
seeing people arrive instead of arriving with them all. But this is
just another lesson to learn about going with the flow, trusting in
the sovereignty of God, and being okay with not being on schedule all
the time. Its okay when plans get disrupted. Its okay when things
don't go our way. We were safe, we were warm, we were together.
\ After all, life is amazing. Either
way.
