Writings from the Road, Part 1

We took off last Wednesday for the Great State of Minnesota.

The first day was intended to be a long day of driving…across the very boring state of Wyoming, and into Nebraska. It was basically uneventful, which is something to be thankful for. It was 12 hours in the van, with few breaks. That night, we stayed in North Platte, NE at our least expensive motel of the trip. It actually delivered more than some of the others that cost more, such as a fantastic fitness room, which I used twice! We got up and going the next day for another long day of driving. We decided to stop in Omaha, at Winter Quarters, and check out the Visitors Center there and see the temple. It was good for the boys to stretch and get a little of the antsy-ness of the drive out of our bones! Then back in the car, as we headed north through Iowa. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the drive was. There was little traffic and we were able to make good time. As we approached Minnesota, we noticed a dark sky looming ahead. I called my dad and told him about the trip, and the black cloud that we were getting closer to. Then, we crossed into Minnesota, and all the boys quickly jumped out for a picture moment near the Welcome to Minnesota Sign. Afterall, we are Minnesota Vikings fans! The boys were almost blown away by the wind, and they jumped back in, just as the rain drops began to fall. No sooner were we back on the road when we heard the emergency signal on the radio and they began to announce severe weather warnings, including tornado warnings! Not knowing the area, we were unsure of what county we were in and how close we were. We choose to keep going. We turned East on I-90, and watched out the northern windows as the monstrous clouds reached down their fingers into twirling funnel clouds. We were scared, and petrified and begged the Chief to keep his petal to the metal and get far away from the storm, and wind, and rain. We only had 45 miles to go to Rochester and we drove on, white knuckled and tense. Even the children were silent! Definitely one of the scariest moments of our lives. We learned that at least 3 tornadoes touched down and destroyed homes. We estimate we were within 10 miles of where they touched down. We arrived in Rochester in a thunderstorm. The sirens in town were going off, letting residents know to seek shelter. We made it to the Chief’s sister’s home, and met her fiancée, and his son. We reunited with Jeni (our niece) and her darling daughter, Tenley. We all breathed a sigh of relief that we made it there safely. What a way to start our journey across the country!