Well, we definitely won't ever forget Landry's 1st Christmas. It was eventful to say the least. If you have about 30 minutes to kill please enjoy the following story.
Not knowing what life with a 7 week old would be like, we had not made any definite plans for Christmas until the last minute. Ultimately we decided to make a "quick" trip to Amarillo for Christmas and set out at 10:00am on Christmas Eve. We needed every inch of room in the Jeep to fit luggage, gifts, and all the things necessary to sustain a baby while away from home. Although we likely would have taken the Jeep anyway because of a "potential" threat of bad weather during the trip, we mainly chose it because it has more room than Beth's CRV and we needed all the space we could get. Turns out this was a good decision. Keep in mind as we share this story that the drive from our house to Amarillo is typically about 5.5 to 6 hours; with the baby we expected about 7.
We were on the road for an hour when it started to snow. No big deal, it was pretty and it did not slow us down. Two hours into the trip snow continued to fall heavier and heavier and we found ourselves driving at very slow rates of speed due to the near white-out conditions. It got a little scary but still no need for panic. As snow started to pack down on the road and become ice, we began to see cars parked in places cars don't usually park (like the ditch). The first few cars we saw were a Corvette, Mustang, Audi TT, and a Honda S2000. I joked to Beth that those people should know better than to drive a rear wheel drive sports car in that kind of weather. We approached Wichita Falls and as the road turned to overpasses it became evident that the situation was getting serious. In addition to many more sedans and sports cars, we were starting to see trucks and SUVs getting stuck or at least afraid to go over the icy elevated roadways. We just kept trucking on because that is what we do. As we cleared all the overpasses and exchanges through Wichita Falls I felt we were in good shape but little did we know that about 10 miles ahead of us traffic was backed up for 17 miles due to a jack-knifed 18-wheeler that was blocking all the north bound lanes.
We arrived at the jam and came to a stop at 1:15pm. As the first couple of hours passed we were confident it had to be cleaned up soon. Did I mention it was still snowing... hard! Hour 3 passed, then hour 4, and yes hour 5. We started talking about our options but soon realized we had none. We were surrounded by stopped cars, many of them stuck in place right on the road. Snow had piled up between and around the cars creating 2ft snow drifts. Even if they had been able to clear the accident 17 miles ahead, most of the cars now sitting in the roadway would not be able to move on their own. People were panicking, calling 911 etc. The dispatcher told the lady in front of us when she called 911 that all their emergency vehicles were stuck too. People were starting to wonder if the National Guard would come out with food or gas.
Oh, speaking of food... Landry was in good shape as we had packed plenty of milk and the heat from the defroster was perfect for heating his bottles. Beth and I on the other hand had grabbed a Monster and a snack that morning from the Exxon and had a few cookies that our great friend and neighbor Patty had made for us. I am sure they were good anyway but I can tell you that by 3pm those were the best friggin cookies I had ever eaten. Back to the road situation... no one knew for sure what was going on. We learned the next day that the story of the jack-knifed 18-wheeler 17 miles up the road was true but it was not the only story that had filtered its way back to us from the front of all this mess.
As darkness loomed it was time to make a decision. We either continue to wait it out like the other 500 or more cars in this situation, or we get a little bold. I still had a 3/4 full tank of gas but was not thrilled at the notion of spending the night on the road, surely to run out of fuel at some point. If I were alone or with buddies, we would have cracked a few beers or bottles of booze and called it a camp-out, but with a wife and 7 week old kid something else had to happen. Beth noticed that some vehicles about 40 yards behind us had dug out a trail across the grass median (snow drifts were about 3 or 4 feet in some parts of the sloped grass/mud median). As we noticed a few vehicles make it across we decided the best thing to do was take a chance at making it back to Wichita Falls and hope there were still rooms available at a hotel. We made it across the median, crept down the highway for 8 miles, and navigated through snow drifts, around stuck cars and big trucks to make it to a crappy Ramada with a room.
It was 7:30pm at this point. We were tired, hungry, and had no idea where we would spend Christmas but we knew Christmas Eve was going to be spent in a crappy motel.
Beth did get us the "suite" which meant it had two doors on each end facing the parking lot instead of just one. They failed to tell us that we needed to enter in a particular door so when we parked, got Landry out of the car and averted the icy walkway to finally get to the door... key worked fine but the door was latched from the inside. At this point I reached a frustration level that bordered on rage. I didn't even think about tracking through the 2 ft of snow and ice back to the office to find out what the heck was up with the door; instead I threw a shoulder into it that any Jr College linebacker would be proud of and busted the door jam and latch to get us out of the weather. I of course told them that it simply "came loose" when I put the key in and pushed the door open. Trust me, based on the condition of this place, this was not the first door molding they ever had to replace. All the restaurants were closed and all the hotel could offer was warm Diet Coke and a packaged Cinnamon roll so that was our Christmas Eve dinner. Landry seemed to actually enjoy the situation. He got held more in the car than he would have at home and then got to sleep in the bed with mommy and daddy. His present to us was that he slept through the night for the very first time!
The next day the hotel parking lot was littered with cars and trucks, most stuck in the entry way or the middle of the parking lot unable to make it to their room except on foot. Word was that the highway was closed in both directions; south in Jolly so couldn't go home; north for the same 17 mile stretch we had experienced the day before so we couldn't continue to Amarillo. Many people there had just resigned to spending Christmas at that Ramada Inn. We said "no way". One way or another we were going to get to Amarillo or get home. I'd like to say that the most overwhelming motivation was the Turkey, Ham, and trimmings awaiting us in Amarillo or the comfort of loved ones during a holiday; but the bottom line was I needed a drink badly. Just kidding, kind of. We decided to utilize the two best tools we had at our disposal... GPS & Jeep 4x4 and get to that drink... I mean family in Amarillo.
We pulled out of the hotel at 11:00 am and headed North. The highway looked like a parking lot in places with cars all over the place, some just off the road, some way off the road, and some in the middle of the road. We got a few miles up the highway and sure enough, nothing but tail lights. We selected "alternate route" on the GPS and headed out to the middle of nowhere. We went down some roads that are probably usually used more by tractors and farm trucks than passenger cars. It took about 2.5 hours through ice and snow at about 10 to 15 miles per hour to by-pass the 17 mile closure on Hwy 287. When we finally made it to the highway, it was open and clear as they had grated the roads north of the blockage. We pulled into Amarillo at 5:30pm Christmas night. Beth's family had waited for us to arrive so we could all eat together; very nice of them. Best of all, my father-in-law had a drink waiting for me at the door. Like I said, it's all about family :)
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