Crazy College Road Trip

I have been missing home a lot recently and Bryce's 15th birthday was coming up so I had been thinking about making a trip home to see the family. I brought it up to my roommates andthey were very excited about that idea! So, we started making plans for a trip back to Colorado. I told my Dad and CeeCee but I was planning to surprise everyone else. Our plan was to leave Friday around 11 after everyone got out of classes. Well Whitney ended up getting out of class late and we ended up eating lunch in town instead of grabbing something at the drive thru so we could eat with our other roommate that wasn't coming and didn't end up getting on the road until around 12:15. That was still going to hopefully put us in around 9:30 and I was very excited to surprise my mom and Lizz that night. We had absolutely perfect weather until we hit about Rock Springs. At that point it was starting to get snowy, cold, and dark- never a good combination. It was about this point in the ride that we all started praying very hard. Shortly after this point we hit basically white out conditions and had to slow our speed to below 45 mph. We were about 10 miles outside of Laramie when we came to a stop on the highway. It was like being parked in a Semi Truck parking lot. Whitney and Jamie were brave enough to get layered up and go knock on a truck driver's door to find out what was going on. We found out that there were 2 semi trucks that had jack-knifed and were rolling down the hill. We were parked for 45 minutes before traffic FINALLY started moving (very very slowly).

This is us parked on the road pretty board but staying warm and snacking!

When we finally reached Laramie we found out that ALL roads in every direction were closed. We were stranded in Laramie for the night- unfortunately, so was everyone else, so we were really worried about finding a hotel room. I was on

the phone with my Dad and he was on the phone with Days Inn and was fortunately able to find us a room!

We ordered pizza and drinks and watched a movie and just made the best of it! It's not hard to enjoy being stuck in a hotel room w

ith your best friends.

The roads FINALLY opened up around 11 on Saturday and we booked it out out to meet the family for Bryce's surprise lunch. We were meeting at Old Chicago's in Centerra at 12. We didn't get there until about 12:30 so poor CeeCee had to stall. CeeCee told us what table they were at so we walked right in and walked up to the table and said "Hey guys, sorry we're late". It was fun to see everyone's surprised faces. I wish I could relive that moment over and over. Lizz started crying, Bryce hopped up to hug me, and Brynlee walked up and kept saying "Mary, I lost a tooth. Mary, I lost a tooth". It was so fun to hug everyone and introduce everyone to my roommates! Unfortunately, Courtney and her family couldn't make it to lunch but that was fun because we got another round of surprises. After Old C's w

e went back to CeeCee's for cupcakes. Courtney and her family were there when we walked in and Brielle saw me when I walked in and got a really excited look on her face and ran up to hug me. Next I saw Avery and she came running up to hug me. Courtney heard the kids screaming at me and walked around the corner and gave me a hug! It was so exciting!

The trip was way way way too short- but very fun! My roommates loved my family and we had so much fun with them! The drive back was pretty uneventful except for almost hitting a deer. I'm still trying to catch up on the sleep I lost this weekend- but it was well worth it.

The next time I drive home from Idaho I want it to be with Lon and Steph, that work for you guys?