Arrived...

I picked up the boys from school and we headed north. We stopped for dinner in Mesquite rather than St. George as I'd hoped. We ended up at Denny's for dinner so it took a bit longer than I'd hoped, so that added to the rush hour delay we had getting out of Vegas put us about an hour behind what I had projected...not too shabby with four kids.

We stopped somewhere north of Cedar City for the boys to change into PJ's and grab some hot chocolate for the road. Cam promised me he'd stay up all night with me...I just kept playing that scene from Cars over and over in my mind where McQueen promises Mac he'll stay up all night with him LOL along with Life is a Highway theme music! All four of the boys were out by a quarter to 10.

I stopped for gas just north of Salt Lake. I had to go in to pay because the pump couldn't read my card...the guy at the counter must have thought I was nuts walking in at 12:30 am (local time 11:30 pm as far as I was concerned) in shorts and my jean jacket when it was a windy 26 degrees! Yes, I put some sweats on at that stop LOL

As I continued north looking for I-84 which would take me west, I encountered the first of two hair raising, maybe I should stop for the night moments...It started snowing with such intensity that I was hard pressed to see the road at times. Was there a hotel in sight...of course not! Thankfully, the snow stopped about 15 minutes after it started and as it wasn't really sticking to the road, I pressed on. After I joined I-84, about half an hour after the first snow encounter, we entered another burst of snow that lasted much longer with much longer periods of heavy, driving snow...ranch exits don't equal a place to stop for the night. Once again I pressed on, this time more because I was worried that if I did stop for the night we might get snowed in. Not a thought I wanted to dwell on. I was passed then stayed with a SUV and traveled tandem with them till we were free of the blizzard...and no that is not too strong a word for what we drove through.

I'm very glad I pressed on through that snow as I heard on the radio at abut 4:30am that the area had in fact iced up.

Around 2 am Robbie woke up and we had a fun little conversation...
Robbie: Ian poopie.
Me: No he's not. Ian's asleep.
Robbie: Ian smells.
Me: No he doesn't. I think you're smelling a skunk.
Robbie: Ian skunky.
Me: {laughing} No the skunk is outside.
Robbie: Stinky in car.
Me: Yes, but it'll pass.

About 3 am I pulled into a rest area to remove my contacts and dozed for about 30-45 minutes then was good to go again. I think the adrenalin of heading back to Oregon helped see me through but I really wasn't tired other than my contacts drying my eyes a bit.

We entered Oregon at 5:08 am! We missed the turn off that would have taken us to McDonald's in Ontario so we pressed on, as only Cam and I were awake it didn't make a ton of sense to stop at that point anyway. We ended up stopping in Baker City for breakfast and gas. I'd hoped to let the boys play but that McDonald's play area was outside and thus closed in the wintry weather. So we made up the hour we lost Friday plus some as I'd calculated one to two hours for breakfast and play time.

As I crossed the 205, I caught the scent of coffee. I think only someone who has lived in Seattle or Portland and been away for awhile could truly appreciate that experience. It was the most Welcome Home smell I can think of and it was good stuff!

We arrived at my parents about a quarter to 1 pm on Saturday...about an hour earlier than my best guess.

Let Spring Break begin...