Our Adventure Home

While getting to our family in Wisconsin merely took 2 full 16-hour driving days, we were not so fortunate on our return trip home. We mapped out a new route taking I-70 through Kansas City and onto Denver to avoid the winter storms that were in Nebraska and Wyoming. The only forecast called for thunderstorms in Kansas, and so we took the lesser of two evils.

Since we passed through Kansas City during lunch time, we were able to meet up with Jennifer, Lani's roommate from college and China, to have lunch with her and her parents. Jennifer's dad graciously paid for a much better lunch than what we would have normally eaten on the go, but God had other plans for that lunch and the leftovers that we had! It was good to see Jennifer. We both sure miss having friends close while we're in California!



Shortly after leaving our dinner date, we ran into our first batch of bad weather--the promised thunderstorms. But these were no ordinary thunderstorms. It was tornado weather. Lani began the drive, but after being blown across the roads from the strong winds, she decided to pull over and let Jon take the wheel. We switched seats on an exit that led to a dirt road. Tumbleweed blew in our car while the doors were open, and the skies turned green. The rain was coming down hard and fast, and we saw many accidents along the interstate. Then the radio announced a tornado warning (which means one has been cited) for the exact county that we were entering. It was an eerie feeling! By that time, the rain had died down a bit, but we saw cars pulled off to the side of the road. Curious, Lani looked behind to see the path of the tornado that had just gone through. A barn roof was ripped to shreds, and the cows and horses were running loose in the pastures. We thanked God for our stop in Kansas City and for our driver change. God only knows what He protected us from during those time lapses. We know His angels were watching over us!

It might be hard to see in this picture, but here the skies were quickly greening and growing uglier by the second.

This is a traffic back-up on I-70 East due to an accident caused by the tornado/thunderstorm.

Two hours after the thunderstorm it started to snow. And blow. The driving conditions became tricky as the winds picked up to 60 mph and cars were getting harder to control. This of course did not stop everyone from driving the speed limit, which caused many accidents. The snow and wind picked up, and soon it became hard to see. This was nothing new to us, as we both have much experience driving in winter weather after years of living in Wisconsin. Before we knew it, there were signs posted that the interstates were being shut down. We had only made it three quarters of the way through Kansas. This was not exactly going to help us make our return trip in two days as we had hoped.

Hayes, Kansas, might have had a lot of hotels, but it wasn't enough to hold all of the perturbed travelers who were stuck there that night. In fact, we only had to go to one hotel to find out that all of them were full. It might not have been Christmas, but there was certainly "no room in the inn." Thankfully, there were more modern accommodations than stables that were provided for everyone who was stranded. So we spent the night in a Red Cross Shelter set up at Fort Hayes College in Hayes, Kansas. We were just hoping and waiting for the interstates to open up. After all, there wasn't even snow in the weather forecasts. This storm came out of nowhere.

The toughest part about the shelter was the fact that our kittens were traveling with us. That actually turned out to be a blessing. We got to stay in the "pet room," which turned out to be a lot more quiet than the main room that housed about 250 people. The kitties didn't get to come out much except to use the potty because about 99% of the pets in that room were dogs. Big dogs.



We didn't sleep much. The cots were certainly more comfortable than the floor, but not comfortable enough to bring either one of us much sleep. The next morning we woke to reporters from the local cable stations. Since we were apparently going the farthest, Lani was interviewed for one of the local TV stations (Jon was out getting breakfast--they at least let people leave to stay within town). After Jon returned with breakfast, we heard rumor that the interstates were not going to be opened until later that afternoon. That story soon changed to the next day.

By that time, we were already frustrated enough with staying put since we still had such a long trip ahead of us. So we got out the map, discovered which local roads were open, and we re-mapped our trip to take us south and out of the winter weather that had now taken over both the northern and southern routes that we had planned for before we left.

Shortly after noon we headed south out of Kansas. We soon realized that it was a blessing that we stayed where we were that night. The storm turned the roads into sheets of ice, the white out conditions caused many accidents, and the ice and wind combined to snap the electric poles in half like toothpicks.



Bug was not enthused about the cold weather and the long trip home.

After about two hours, we finally made it out of the winter weather. So we headed south through the panhandle of Oklahoma, the northwestern tip of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and then all the way up through California. Here are a few pictures of our adventure:
We were getting out of Dodge (Kansas, that is...).

This town was near where Jon's mom did her student teaching in OK. We were humored by the names of these ghost towns in the middle of nowhere.

The sunset was beautiful in Texas!

So this is what New Mexico looks like! :)

No joke--this is SNOW in New Mexico! HA! We just couldn't escape it!!

After New Mexico, we drove straight through Arizona until we reached So Cal. We nearly kissed the ground when we finally made it to California...it was a sight we thought we'd never see! Our trip still wasn't over, however. We stopped for the night in Bakersfield, CA, and then drove the last 5 hours the next day. When our long trip was finally over, there was nothing else that we could do except this: CELEBRATE!