Driving in the States

Nothing like driving down the Interstate when things come to a standstill. Gotta love driving in the Lower 48 where you can be going 3mph on the highway when there's no good reason. No accidents, no snow or ice, etc. Oh well, guess that's part of the reason I love the remote areas of the world. :) 

yep, 0 in a 60 zone. lovely

Was on my way home to Alaska, when a winter storm hit the central Lower 48. Snow and ice in Alaska is one thing, but it's something totally different in the south. I had gone down to Austin to see a couple friends, the day my flight left from Dallas to Fairbanks, I was driving north. I knew they were expecting bad weather, but it got really rough the farther north I drove. About 1/3 of the way to Ft. Worth, I received word my flight had been cancelled. Called the airline and got rebooked, then kept driving. About half the time I was going 40mph on the Interstate. Thankfully most people stayed home that day, so there wasn't much traffic. At one point, I had to pull over and take a break. I was a little uptight with driving a small rental car on such nasty roads with others on the road, especially semis. After stretching my legs a bit, I continued on north. 

Eventually I figured out my flight I had been rebooked on had also been cancelled. So they reserved me a flight for the next day. I was slightly disappointed, cause that first rebooking had me in First Class! It would have been my first time traveling in style. Not that domestic first class is anything like international first class, but hey! it still would have been cool. Thankfully I have friends in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, so found a place to crash for the night. Spent an extra day chilling with my friends in a nice, warm house, eating pizza and sweets, watching Christmas movies. 

The next day I headed to the DFW airport. Took me about twice as long as it should have normally. The roads were still pretty bad, but at least it wasn't still raining/snowing. And many people still chose to stay home, which meant less traffic for me to deal with. Was glad to drop off the rental car. In conditions like that, I'd much prefer to drive my own vehicle. 

signs around Dallas/Ft. Worth

Travel may be discouraged, but I'm not stopping! I know they were talking about the road conditions, but there are times when people think I'm crazy for some the places I visit and things I do while traveling. Some might want to discourage me, but until God tells me to stop, I'll keep going! For some reason, I love traveling and can't get enough of it. New places are so exciting and the people I meet..... life is far from boring. Ha! 

my life story

Made it home to about the same weather I left in Texas. But honestly, I'll take snow and ice in Alaska any day over snow and ice in Texas. We are a bit more prepared for it and it's (kinda) normal, so we are used to driving in it. It may be cold and all, but Alaska in the wintertime is beautiful! And beautiful in the summer..... actually it's beautiful all the time, just in different ways. 

Anywho, I am glad to be home. Especially for Christmas time! 

our driveway my first week home