What a Snowstorm!

We're finally home! Our family travelled back from Detroit tonight through lots, and lots, and lots of snow.

At first we started out driving 45mph on I75, and then down to 40mph (as wackos pass us going what seemed to be 60mph)! Amy was following close behind us, and we slowly made it out of the the first storm. We stopped for gas, got food at the state's slowest McDonalds (15 minutes from the time we ordered our food to the time we paid for it...ugh. It still hasn't settled well.) and then were on our way, setting the cruise at 70mph. No snow, clear roads, little traffic.

And then BAM! Out of nowhere the visibility dropped, snow was flying everywhere, and the road was completely covered. We slowed down to 55mph, and then 40mph, and then all the way down to 25mph within a minute. It was terrible. We were less than twenty miles to Coldwater, and we were stuck in one-lane traffic trying to not hit the truck in front of us and praying nobody hit us from behind (and again, wincing as the crazy wackos whizz by us on the right). Finally, just before we came to Coldwater the storm subsided some, and we saw two semis in the ditch within a half mile of each other.

As we approached the Indiana state line, Amy muttered that she hoped our INDOT did a better job of plowing our roads. No sooner than she said that then we came up on two (slow) INDOT trucks plowing and salting the road. And of course we passed them. And were appalled at the driftcover. You couldn't see the lines, the road was completely covered with packed snow. We took it slow, 40mph, and just when we thought we could speed up a little bit, WHAM! Another storm hit, and this was the worst one yet. We flipped on our blinkers and slowed down to 15mph - visibility was only a few feet. I had never seen anything like it - we could barely see the side of the road. The snow was slamming straight into the van, the lighting was terrible, and again there were those crazy truckdrivers roaring past. I kept asking Tara if there was something wrong with me - I could not possibly fathom how they could pass me at such velocity when I could barely see in front of me.

Obviously we made it through the storm, and the rest of the trip from Lake Orion to Fort Wayne was uneventful. It was just nice to finally get home. After five long hours of intense driving. It took us less than three and a half hours to get their Friday evening...and we thought that was a long trip. The kids did good though, Amy was a great driver, and nobody got hurt.

All in all, the trip was a success - Cookie Day at Dawn and Dave's house was a hit, the kids had lots of fun, the falling snow made for a pretty atmosphere outside during the day, and now we're home and ready for bed. Good night.