Two Months Later, and I finally continue the story

Ok, I know it's been more than two months since I first wrote about our roundtrip drive to Omaha, NE, but we've been super crazy and haven't had time to finish what we started writing. The trip to Creighton University has been productive so far, because I am on the waiting list for their pharmacy program. I'm just waiting to hear that somebody had other options and took them leaving me an open space to join the program. Anyway, on with our trip...

So, after getting pulled over by a police office in Bellevue, I drove through the night with Madison waking up off and on talking with me. It was really sweet and memorable to share those quiet times with her at 2 am driving over the Washington mountain passes. I tend to get warm while driving, so I was in shorts and a T-shirt, and we had to stop during the night for gas. It was not only cold (low to mid 40's), the wind chill dropped the temperature well below freezing. So, I had no coat, no socks, wearing flip flops, shorts, and a T-shirt in below freezing temperature with the kids inside the car telling me to hurry so they can go back to sleep, and I can drive another 5 hours so we can eat breakfast in Montana. Anyway, I digress.

So, the drive through eastern Washington and heading into Idaho was great, but the Idaho pass is where we hit our first patch of bad weather. Remember, when we left, it was May and Omaha was in the upper 70's to low 80's (Washington was raining in the 60's - nothing new). But we hit a snow storm (our first of many snow storms) and found nearly white out conditions. Less than 24 hours before, I was sitting in Biochem before heading to 7 hours of work and then more than 8 hours of driving, and now I'm driving through a snow and wind storm. It was one of those snow storms where the snow doesn't fall, it blows sideways. Then we got to the bridge. If any of you have driven I-90 through the Idaho passes, I'm sure you know the bridge that spans a canyon from one mountain to another, and I'm sure it's beautiful when the sun is shinning and the wind is mild. We didn't hit the bridge under such conditions, however, the wind was so high and the road so icy, our car hit the bridge and was turned sideways! The front of the car was pointing over the bridge, and the driver-side door was leading the way across the bridge. I am so thankful that we were the only drivers 'smart enough' to be on the road just before sunrise. Anyway, we made it safely across the bridge, but we all wide awake after that little adventure.

We made it to Montana safely where we got some gas for the car and breakfast for our tummies. We then started driving through the rest of Montana for another several hours before we called it a day.

Our trip through South Dakota was less adventurous and more funny, but that story will come later.

The first 90 miles of our 3,700 mile trip across the country and back

Ok, so I thought that I would blog about our trip to and from Omaha, NE, before now, but my anxiety is a bit too high as we wait to here if I got into the pharmacy program or not. So as we continue to wait, I thought that that I would tell about our first 90 miles. Before I do, however, I need to set up the day. Our day started like a normal day: Allison and I got up around 6:45 and starting getting ready, kids up by 7:00, breakfast, kids to school, Allison to work, me to school, pick up Emma, lunch, Emma to the babysitter, me to work, Allison and the girls getting ready for our trip, girls to bed, and then I get home around 10:00. We finished packing the car, got the girls up from bed, and started driving east around 10:45.

The girls are sleeping before we hit the freeway, and Allison's sleeping before we get out of the county. But, I am driving, so I must stay awake. About 85 miles later, I start yawning. I think yawning is an understatement. My yawn is so violent that the car starts swerving, and I cross over to the lane next to me. About 5 miles later, several more yawns, and more unauthorized lane changes, the inside of our car lit up like a blue and red Christmas light show. I pull over, wait for the police office, and wake up Allison. The police office walks up to the driver's side window and asks if I've been drinking. I start to explain that we're driving to Omaha and wanted to start our trip while the kids were sleeping. Allison (still trying to wake up) starts talking, well, not so much talking as sounding really, really drunk. The police office looks in the car and sees the girls waking up in the back seat (Allison still rambling quietly in her seat), and the officer looks me in the eye and says, "I only have one thing to say to you - Montana is BIG!" Then he said (and no I didn't point out he already said one thing), "Now that I've pulled you over, you're totally awake now, aren't you?"

I said yes and thank you as he turned and walked back to his police cruiser, and as I pulled away, both the girls started asking me why I needed the police officer to help me stay awake and keep me in my lane. Soon, Allison and Emma were sleeping, but Madison stayed awake to talk. She fought sleep for about another 90 minutes getting us to the mountain pass around midnight. With all the crazy weather (snow, rain, hail, high winds, dust storms, etc.) we experienced and the 150 miles of Wall Drug signs, being pulled over by the police officer in the first hour and a half of our more than 55 hour adventure was one of the highlights. I thank God that the girls had lots of fun and had great attitudes throughout the the whole trip.

Gregg

2,700 miles down, 900 to go

So it's 3:00 a.m. Mountain Time (2:00 back home), and we're leaving in 90 minutes to travel the final 900 miles (or about 13 hours of driving time) of our little family trip to and from Omaha, NE. I (Gregg) had an interview on Friday with Creighton University's School of Pharmacy, and I am super excited about their program and approach to health care as a future pharmacist. I won't find out, however, if I got into their program or not for another three weeks, so the following 21 days are going to be absolutely torturous!

During our 50+ hours of driving so far, I have discovered how absolutely amazingly beautiful our country is, and of course, how to drive 90+ mph for the entire states of Wyoming and South Dakota. We also made a point to stop at Mt. Rushmore mainly because I have never been and wanted to go so badly, but we also wanted the kids to experience the absolute awesomeness (yes, that is a word) of the mountain. They loved the presidents' faces carved into the mountain, but they were more interested in the gift shop wondering how to spend the money they have saved. We took lots of pictures while we were there and throughout our entire trip, and they will be uploaded soon after we return home. But, since I am unable to post any pictures now or better organize my thoughts, I will wait until we return home, unpack, get caught back up with work, school, and life in general to post anything more about our trip. It has been amazing so far, and the girls have been even better than I could have possibly dreamed.

Until next time, pray for our safe return and my acceptance into Creighton's pharmacy distant pathway program (that means we get to stay home while I attend school online).

God Bless,

Gregg