Another Trip Out West

Way back in October, Heidelbeere got engaged.  That was a happy thing.  It was soon decided that the wedding would take place out in Utah, where she lived.  That meant a trip out west.  Another happy thing.  That meant we would get to see some of our kids and their families again, folks that we don't often get to see.  Such trips are usually fun in and of themselves.  To me, these trips are fun adventures independent of the reason for the trip.

So all the country we drove through getting from our house in the Midwest to Heidelbeere's house in the intermountain west was covered with snow.

That makes this trip a bit of a gamble. During the summer the drive is at full speed, barreling along the highway as fast as the law allows.  Not so in the winter.  In the winter storms can go through that can make the road conditions messy, sloppy, and slick, sometimes requiring that you slow down to be able to travel safely on sometimes snow covered roads. Given that the trip covers almost 1,500 miles and typically take two days, it's not all that unlikely that parts of the trip have to be slower, sometimes even coming to a standstill because of road conditions.  For these winter trips we usually start watching the long range weather forecasts as soon as the planned travel dates are covered by the forecasts.  So, for this trip, we knew we were going to run into some bad roads somewhere out in the middle of the trip, in western Nebraska or eastern Wyoming.  It was just a question of where it would be.  Somewhere around Kearney, Nebraska is the midpoint of the trip, we hoped to get a little beyond that point on this trip.  After getting off on the trip that morning, we were hoping to get as far as North Platte, Nebraska but as they day wore on, when we reached Kearney, it was beginning to snow and we decided to stop there.  

It snowed during the night so when we got up and prepared to leave the next morning, we checked the road conditions and saw that the freeway was closed about 150 miles in front of us, at Ogallala, Nebraska.  We decided to forge ahead anyway, hoping that it would open by the time we got there or shortly thereafter. We had to go a little slower because the roads, even though they had been plowed, were still snow covered and a bit packed.  But a few hours later when we got to Ogallala, the road was still closed and we had to get off the freeway and stop.  So we drove north, into town, looking for a place to wait until the road opened.  But after a few minutes we hadn't found any place and had reached the north edge of town so we turned around to go check the other side of the freeway.  But low and behold, as we got back to the freeway we saw that the road had opened so we hopped on and took off west again.

The roads were still snow covered so we had to go a little slower but by the time we got to Laramie they had cleared off and we were able to get back up to speed.  The rest of the drive was good and that evening we arrived at Moosbeere's home.  We hadn't been able to isolated ahead of this trip so a "porch visit" in their driveway was all we were able to do.  

But they all came out and we did gifts there in the driveway.

It was a good visit and a good time but too short.  After a little over an hour the cold drove us all back into our warm car and house.  Alas, that was it for the time being.  So we said our goodbyes and headed on to Heidelbeere's.  We dropped Stachelbeere and his brand new fiancée off at Heidelbeere's, where they would be staying, and then headed farther south to my brother's place, where we would be staying the first part of the trip.

The next morning we were up early and headed back to Heidelbeere's house for yet another gift exchange, the last of our Christmas celebrations.  That was a good time but then it was time to settle in to work getting ready for the big wedding, which was the main reason for the whole trip.  

There was lots to do to get ready for the wedding but it came off without any major problems and was a very good time.

It was a good time to get as much of the family together as could make it.

It was a good time, a good celebration.

After the wedding, we wanted to go back to Moosbeere's for another visit, the first had been too short.  There was, however, as we were leaving the apartment complex where Heidelbeere lived, a bit of excitement; a fire in one of the units on the far side away from Heidlebeere's unit.

While three units were damaged, it was fortunate that no one was hurt.

Still, it made getting out of the complex a bit challenging, what with emergency equipment and "looky-loos" all over the place.

Remembering the cold of the first visit, we went a little better prepared.  We dressed warmer (like some had three layers of clothes!) and Moosbeere brought out a couple of space heaters to help us stay warmer.

He also brought out some chairs so we sat in the driveway and visited again.  This time, the kids opted to stay inside where it was warmer.  They came out to say hi, but soon disappeared back in the house.

It was another good visit and we lasted longer this time.  But eventually, the cold got to be too much again and it was time to say goodbye.  It was getting late anyway.  As we had been headed up to Moosbeere's place we had discovered the car had a headlight out.  That was particularly frustrating since we had just replaced them both just a year before.

I had hoped to get back home to before replacing them but it wasn't to be.

On our way back to Heidelbeere's we got pulled over.  I hadn't even realized it at the time, but I stopped in the parking lot of an auto parts store and the officer even suggested we go in and get a new bulb there.  He was nice, he just gave us a verbal warning and let us go on our way, though he did mention that the sooner we got it replaced the less likely we were to get pulled over again.

We mentioned to Moosbeere what had happened and he volunteered to replace it for us, which was no small thing because on this car you have to go up in through the wheel well to get to it.  So even though its still just a small, little light bulb, it's a bit of work to get to it.

But he was quite cheerful about doing it so I made a few calls to the mechanic that replaced it for us last year so I could make sure we were getting the right part and we went back up to Moosbeere's house again the next day.  

It took about 45 minutes but he had all the tools and lights needed and it went very well.  It was also a real good excuse to see them again.  Like the last time, the kids only came out for a few minutes at first, before going back in the house, but we we got to spend another evening with them.  Like a bonus.  It was good.  And we dealt with the cold even better this third time and were able to stay as long as we wanted before it got late enough that it was time to go.

Unfortunately, the next day was time to head back home.  We made it out pretty well in the morning and were on the road back to home.

We made the traditional stop at Little America in Wyoming for ice cream and then it was clear roads all the rest of the way back.

There was one point, out in Nebraska again, where we thought we might run into some weather but as we approached that part of the trip, the storm stayed to the north and we went sailing on by with good, dry roads.  We stopped again in Kearney for the night and got out in good time the next day, making it home the evening of the second day.  Even in time to hit the grocery store once we got home since we'd left the fridge pretty bare when we left on this trip.  It's no fun to come home to spoiled food in the fridge.

All in all, it was a good trip; a trip full of celebration, a special event, and lots of good, happy time with family.  Yeah, we'll have to do this again.