We're Here!

We pulled in to Norfolk around 4pm Sunday, and what a trip we had getting here. Of course there hadn't been any winter weather this year but all that changed Saturday. I woke up in St. James and thought, Wow, even Mother Nature doesn't want us to move. The kids had finished their semester Thursday, but Brandon wanted to stay through Saturday so he could go to something at the school. So we stayed, and the winter storm came, and the Saturday night event was cancelled! It looked a lot better on Sunday, but still cold and blowing. We got everything packed in the van (no small feat) and we were off. We drove past the schools and through town, one last time, before we headed out. I was thinking to myself that 17 years ago I was in a sports car, huge smile on my face, and so excited to be heading out of town for adventures unknown, never looking back. Fast forward, I'm in a van, crying my eyes out, dreading the unknown, and afraid if I looked back I might not be able to leave. We headed south on 60 and didn't have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the road was pretty icy. We were just talking about stopping in Worthington for a bathroom break when I saw the car ahead of me tap her breaks. That's all it took and she was sliding all over both lanes. I thought we were going to hit her but she went in to the ditch. I pulled over and ran down to see if she was ok. The car had hit a cement culvert and was only on two tires but was still in gear and the wheels were spinning. Finally the driver got the car in park and someone else had stopped right behind me and called 911. We found out the driver was a 93 year old lady who was badly shaken up but not hurt. The snow was so deep in the ditch and the wind chill was awful that we had her stay in the car until the highway patrol got there. We had to reassure her again and again that we were not going to leave her and that her car was not going to tip any farther over. She said that in all the years she'd been driving she had never had a single accident. I told her she was due for a little excitement then. The highway patrol and tow truck came, we got her up the hill and in the squad car, and then the tow truck driver asked if I could get in the car and steer it while he pulled it out of the ditch. I'm thinking sure I'm in no hurry. The car is wrecked underneath and won't start, so I have to crawl in to a car with electric seats that don't work. First, the 93 year old lady is very short with short legs, I looked at the tow truck driver and said, "if you laugh, I am not helping!" So I am sitting in the car with my knees up to my eyeballs thinking, "Ok maybe leaving MN winters won't be so bad. We finally got everything taken care of and we were back on our way. Once we were in to Iowa the roads were much better. Grace was very excited to see the Nebraska sign but bummed we still had an hour of driving. Nebraska had gotten mostly freezing rain, not great to drive in but beautiful to look at. The trees and grass just sparkled. Grace thought that that is how Nebraska decorated for Christmas! We finally drove in to Norfolk, Grace was trying to see everything and Brandon was sleeping. When we were near our neighborhood I told Grace to see if she could find our house. Kevin's 2 trucks in the driveway was a dead giveaway! Grace was squealing with excitement and barely let the van stop before she was out the door. Brandon needed a little nudging just to get him awake, but he was finally up and out of the van. We're Here!