Good morning, Netizens...

 

My Gawd we are back! We made the initial run to Nebraska by studying NEXRAD weather radar and matching those findings with a road atlas. Normally at this time of year, there is no way you would catch me driving across the Dakotas and then down to Nebraska. I have too many memories of driving that route, only to end up spending nights in various odd places waiting for the blizzards to end. It was incredible to my way of thinking that the dreaded northern route was spotlessly clear of snow and relatively cloudless. We made the outbound trip to Nebraska in 24 hours and thirty minutes precisely.

 

The evening we arrived, Lincoln, Nebraska had one of the biggest blizzards ever! The major East-West Interstate, Highway 80, was closed. Schools and most other public gatherings shut down, unfortunately including the planned memorial for Suzie's dad, Harm Harms. When we awoke after our mind-numbing odyssey, we were trapped, since none of our two wheel-drive cars could even get out of the driveway until Sunday when the snowplow cleared the road.

 

I come from a dysfunctional family where family gatherings were better-known for feuds that flared into battles than any sense of togetherness. By comparison Suzie's entire family, including over 100 cousins, nephews, brothers and sisters are a closely-knit crowd. Their memorial for much-beloved Harm and his widow was a classic study in the love they feel for one another. If one chanced as a stranger, to arrive at such a gathering as we attended, within an hour you would be family, or so the saying goes.

 

It seemed too short, our stay in Lincoln, but we both have lives and allegiances that call us home. We climbed into our beast of burden and, thinking we might get lucky taking an old and familiar route home, we headed toward Spokane. We were a bit nervous about the weather to our North, but having just survived a blizzard, we felt invincible. That was our folly, and we ended up spending the night in a Days Inn in Sheridan, Wyoming, victims of horizontal snow, ice fog and horrible driving conditions. Egods!

 

We were already late, so we pounded the pavement hard, arriving in Spokane late last evening, no 24 hour trip this time. We are truly glad to be home, where everything is familiar and comfortable once again.

 

I'll tell more about the trip later on today or tomorrow.

 

Dave

 

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