Treacherous Travels

The day started off peacefully enough: leisurely breakfast and delicious dinner served by Janelle (remember?), my playing with Austen and Jordan while the older kids frolicked in the snow outdoors, and leaving early afternoon in order to stop at a few stores in Fargo to exchange too-small clothing received as Christmas gifts. I was hoping that would take about a half-hour tops, but it was several hours before we were on the road for Bismarck. It was dark outside and cozy-warm inside, so all the ladies napped while I drove.

When we got to Bismarck, we went to the just-opened Olive Garden for supper. That restaurant has always been one of our favorite reasons to go to Fargo, and now it will draw us to Bismarck, too, I'm sure! Our friend Casey, a former Ground Round coworker from our university days, is a manager there, and we got to visit with him before and after our deeeelicious meal. Even though they had only just met him, each of the girls hopped up to give him a hug afterward. (Casey's response: "Your girls are awesome!")

When we left the restaurant, big flakes of snow were falling--the kind that look terrific when backlit by yard lights or snowmobile headlights and make winter feel all Norman Rockwell-y when viewed from the comfort of one's own home, perhaps with a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate on the stove, and Christmas carols playing on the Victrola. But also the kind that aren't all that fun to drive over when they have accumulated on the streets and started to turn slick and icy. We had a few errands to run: fuel up at a gas station, stop by a grocery store for ingredients for tomorrow's breakfast, drop off a Christmas gift for our nephew Arron in Mandan. Did I mention that Mandan is a city built on several steep hills? That fact is made abundantly clear when its streets are filling up with the kind of snowflakes that were falling tonight.

But that was heavenly driving compared to the return home on I-94. It usually takes just over an hour to get from Mandan to Dickinson. Tonight it took two hours. The wind was whipping the snow around in swirls that covered the windshield and blocked my view of the highway. The snow was also drifting across the road, making it impossible in places to see the lines marking the lanes of the highway. I had to stop frequently to chisel ice off the windshield, and once I pulled over to join a couple other drivers in pushing another car out of the ditch. It was stressful, to say the least, and the muscles in my shoulders and neck are in knots. But we're home safely now, and the vehicle is unpacked, and everybody is either in bed or on his way. Fun as it is to travel and see friends and family for the holidays, it's always good to be back home!