Our original plan was to leave California on the 28th and return home on the 29th. However, Mother Nature had some other plans – Utah and the mountains were going to get slammed with heavy snow. We didn’t want to drive through the Rockies and risk driving on very icy roads or having the interstate shut down and be stuck/delayed in the middle of nowhere. So, we decided to push back our departure to the 29th and return via the Southern route, which is longer, but not as mountainous.
We left around 8:00 the morning of the 29th, in the rain (it rained all but 3 days of our vacation, and they were not consecutive). In talking with friends before our vacation, I was told to expect to add 1-2 hours onto our journey when traveling with kids. This is true. On the way out we would stop so I could nurse Logan. This took forever as he was distracto-boy and only wanted to look around at everything else going on around him. So, on the way back home, I decided it would be easier and more time-efficient to pump and give him a bottle. This did save time, but when you take burping, diaper changes and walking the dog at pit stops, into account, we easily still would take an extra 30-60 minutes during meal time. Plus, on the way home, our first meal stop was near Flagstaff, AZ where we were driving through snow, which of course made travel slower. It wasn’t what we would consider bad road conditions, but we could tell a lot of the other travelers were not used to driving in snow.
The snow came and went off and on as we headed to our hotel in Gallup, NM. Knowing we were going to be late, I called the hotel when we had barely crossed from CA into AZ, and alerted them that we would be a late arrival. Always a good thing to help ensure your room is still there when you arrive! When we were about 100 miles away from Gallup, the hotel called me to check if we were still planning on staying there tonight. By this point it was about 10pm. I told the woman that yes we were and that we were about 100 miles away. Noah and I thought it was strange that they called to double check even though I had called earlier, but we just chalked it up to separate employees and a lack of internal communication.
By the time we finally made it to the hotel we were all car weary. The snow was pretty heavy in Gallup and the city streets were very slick. So much so, that Noah was unable to turn into the hotel driveway the first pass-by and had to make a u-turn in a parking lot up the street. Thank goodness that around 11pm there was not a lot of traffic on that road, because as Noah headed back to the hotel the car slid on some ice and we started to spin out. Scary, but Noah is an excellent driver and had us headed straight and safely into the hotel parking lot in no time. 🙂 Inside the hotel, when I announced my name to the receptionist for check-in she responded with, “Finally!” Not in an exasperated way, but a hurrah! You made it with all the snow! During that process another woman came in and asked if they had any rooms and the receptionist responded that they were booked full due to the snow. Ah! So now the phone call made sense! Thankfully our room was still held for us (and if it wasn’t that hotel would have had to face my wrath, which is not pretty). After 14-hours of traveling, we were so happy to make it up to our room and beyond thrilled at just how awesome our suite was! Too bad Logan didn’t want to let us sleep in it.
The morning of the 30th, we set out early again, as we had another long drive ahead and a winter storm to contend with as we approached home. More snow off and on in New Mexico, but nothing we couldn’t handle. I actually enjoyed going through New Mexico a LOT more than Utah. There are so many types of geography! Mesas, rocky mountains, grasslands, etc! And with the snow, it was quite lovely! It lasted forever, like Utah does, but at least the scenery was nicer!
The worst part of the drive home happened when we were in Fountain, CO. The roads were very icy, so Noah put the chains on the car. The problem with that is with chains our top speed was 30mph. We were so close to home and yet so far when we all wanted nothing more than to be out of the car and off of the icy roads. Plus, I had chosen to sit cramped in the backseat to help entertain Logan. Cramped might actually be an understatement as I either had to sit on my legs or squeeze them behind Logan’s car seat and angled into the front. Finally, a little after 11pm and after 15 hours of traveling we made it home!
Now that everything from the trip is cleaned up and put away, time to put my feet up, watch a movie and ring in the new year in piece and quiet. Nah, who am I kidding, I will lay on the floor playing with Logan, and pause the movie at least twice to tend to the baby’s needs, or laundry, and quite possibly fall asleep before midnight. 🙂
Happy New Year!