Day 99 Winter Storm Warning

When we got to Lawrence, we had some rain.

Not so when we left.  There had been a heavy rainfall earlier in the morning that we didn't register until we actually ported the bags back to the car.

Why?

C was ill. Violently ill at about 4:00 am.  So, in one week I got to hear both of my son's lose just about everything in their stomach from the day before.  P had a pasty color similar to the one he had when he had his wisdom teeth out.  Similar, but not quite ghost-like.  This was the palest I've seen C.


He was sleep deprived and sick, so I drove from Lawrence to almost the Kansas border. We stocked up on Gatorade and somehow that 6 foot 2 inch kid managed to scrunch up in the passenger seat and sleep/rest.

We encountered rain off and on throughout the ride. Some was heavy and frightening, some was just sprinkles and drizzle. 

If you haven't been through Kansas in a while on I-70 there are a few things you should know.  One, the eastern end of the state from just west of Lawrence and a good portion going east (until you are just outside Kansas City, KS is a toll road.  You need cash and in this card crazy world, just take that as a warning. Fortunately, we had enough spare change in the ashtray and our wallets to cover the toll.

The second thing you should know is that exits and rest stops are few and far between.  If you get a chance to top off the fuel, you should take it.

At we neared the last rest stop, about five miles from the Colorado border, C roused.  By that time I'd put in some 400 miles and I was getting tired.  Most of what kept me going while C was sleeping was listening to an audio book.

At the rest stop a weather forecast kept announcing the winter storm alert that had been issued for southwest Nebraska, northwest Kansas and the eastern Colorado plains.  The storm was due to hit at 6:00 pm MST and last 24 hours.

As if on cue, the moment we crossed the border the rain turned to sloppy sleet.  At times, the visibility was less than a semi in length.  I stayed awake as long as I could, falling asleep somewhere between Katniss stopping her partner from eating poisonous berries to the remaining three contestants atop the cornucopia escaping enhanced, feral mutts while fighting one another.  By that time we'd passed Limon.

If you've been on I-70 in eastern Colorado you probably remember that Limon is the last hope of civilization capable of handling travelers until you hit the Denver metro area. It's one of the bigger towns on the eastern plains with a population of 1880 according to the last census.

We pulled into Denver at 6:30 with the storm in full force. We found some dinner, found our beds and happily succumbed to sleep.

We're home now. I picked up the stomach bug too, but it didn't tear me up as badly as it did the boys (I'd paid attention and ate light the day C was sick). 

We calculate we drove about 3400 miles although we haven't done the official math. We spent time with people we care about, saw some amazing things and pushed our own limits.  The trip was good but we aren't raring to go on such a long car journey again for a while.

Now I'm on to taking care of the business of being laid-off and all the fun that entails.  No matter what, at the very least I'll be able to be empathetic with other people who've had to go through this too.

Yep, more learning and stepping out coming up.