The car thermometer registered -9° as we drove at a crawl on Interstate 80 out of Des Moines, Iowa. We were traveling to the YMCA of the Rockies to spend Christmas with our daughter and her family. The afternoon before, we had left our home in Goshen, Indiana hoping to get ahead of the predicted arctic blast coming our way. When we reached our motel in Des Moines, the temperature was a balmy 25° with no sign of a storm. But overnight, the wind and snow blew in from the west. When I took Sadie the pup out for her morning walk, the temperature had dropped to -13°, with a roaring, bone-chilling wind. We had reserved an Airbnb in Grand Island, Nebraska, a mere 4 hours away, for our next night’s stay and decided to proceed with care since we had all day to get there. What should have taken us an hour and a half to drive under normal conditions took us over three. With the thermometer now at -9° and blinding snow blowing across the four lanes, those first 99 miles on the interstate became a slow, careful slog. By the time we made it to Grand Island, we had seen at least 55 car and truck slide offs or crashes.
Six hours later, we were so happy to get to our Airbnb studio. In the falling darkness and the rising cold, we trudged back and forth through the snow with our bags and dog accessories, trying to keep ourselves warm, as we unpacked. While Jim left to get a few groceries, Sadie and I explored the space and discovered two things: there seemed to be very little heat in the Airbnb and the water lines were frozen! I immediately checked with the local Hampton Inn to see if they had a room available, in case we needed it. Then, Sadie and I wrapped ourselves in blankets, trying to retain heat, as we started to get colder and colder. When Jim came back, we tried to make the best of the situation but the cold overtook us and the pipes refused to thaw. So we repacked everything and drove the five miles to the motel where they gave us a king bed room that would also accommodate the dog. Shivering, we trudged in and out, unpacking once more. When we finally settled in our room, we both took long hot showers to get warmed up then sat on the bed, luxuriating in the warmth. Through it all, Sadie the pup was a trooper. She promptly took care of business in the cold and was on her best behavior inside.
The next morning, though the temperature still hovered below zero, the western sun rose full above the prairie. Blue skies replaced the stormy grey of the previous day. On our way out of town with full mugs of coffee, Jim stopped at a store and ran in to buy me a “surprise” Fitbit for Christmas to replace the one that didn’t make it through the storm! Things were looking up!
As we drove through Nebraska, then eastern Colorado, at each of our rest stops, the temperature climbed. In Sterling, Colorado, 7° felt like a warm front and, by the time we arrived in Estes Park, the thermometer peaked at a balmy 27°, with clear roads and unsurpassable views. Our reserved cabin awaited and we settled into it comfortably, glad to be safe and sound with running water and heat. We had survived the arctic blast of 2022.