Whenever I was about to take a road trip, during the winter time, my Grandma Judith always called to ask if I had packed boats and mittens in the car...readily accessible. I would sometimes roll my eyes...the boots she was talking about were not always the fashion statement I wanted to make. I loved my Grandma, with a passion. I always made sure to have them "handy".
Years later, as we are preparing for our trip home to Minnesota for Christmas, I made sure to pack all of our "winter wear" into a bag that is "readily access able". I also loaded up duvets for the kids...makes napping better on the long drive. Boy was I glad I listened to Grandma!
We first spent the night in Knoxville with Todd's dad and Mamo (grandma). They had an amazing dinner waiting for us. Todd's aunt and brother joined us as well.
The next morning we hit the road. The temperature gauge read somewhere in the 60s. We were heading to Chicago this night. Already the O'Hare airport was cancelling flights, due to snow (yippee!!!)
We hit snow in the evening, made it to our destination and got snuggled in for a good night's rest. We heard the wind howling all night. The next morning we were ready to hit the road again, heading for Minneapolis. It was time to get the ol' heater blowing, clear off the windows, and load up on coffee!
It was -4. As we moved north our gauge moved to -6. It was bitter cold, but we had snacks, coffee and Christmas music promising me that I would be home for Christmas. Funny thing was happening, the heater was blowing out only cool air...hmm.
Our van was purchased in Florida. A few years back, while traveling north, we discovered that rear heat is an "option" on a Chevy Astro van. (I guess the people who ordered it in Florida had no intention of traveling north of Jacksonville!)
Anyway, we rarely got out of the van. The wind was whippin. It actually hurt to be "out there." It actually hurt to be in the van as well...hmmm. We did tell the guys at the oil change place that we were headed to sub zero destinations WITH our van. Maybe they did not put in the right antifreeze...they certainly did not put in the proper windshield wiper fluid, which was no longer fluid!
As we continues to drive west/north west, I was asking the Lord to please let us have daylight until we arrived at Grandma and Papa's. I was driving across the river and through the cities of St.Paul and Minneapolis, teeth chattering, but my heart warm...we are almost there.
Warm hugs and tons of kisses were waiting, along with a warm meal and sweet candle light.
I thawed out the next day.
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