#stupidstormkayla 2

So, the 1st thing we had to do was dig our car out.  I think it dropped 7-8 inches overnight?

We stopped at IHOP to eat breakfast and figure out as a plan since the freeway had been shut down.  The waitress said it probably wouldn't open for 2-3 more days. Yikes! Tyler finally had a smile because he got all you can drink Hot Chocolate and it was to die for!

I got my favorite- swedish crepes!

We kept trying to figure out the weather and optional routes for about an hour.  We looked around and we were in the only ones in the restaurant.  That's weird.  As we were leaving we saw a sign saying IHOP was closed for the weather.  Even Walmart shut down.  So, we looked for the closest hotel…Comfort Suites.  The staff were extremely kind and understanding- got us a room with a sofabed.  We had a Brooklyn 99 marathon, went swimming in the pool, had IHOP leftovers for dinner and got lots of sleep.

The next day, the roads were still closed, but we had to get going so we wouldn't miss the wedding.  We used our navigation systems to try some backroads.  They were ALL covered with snow and ice.  It was very slow going but at least we were going…

How I felt:

We ended up taking a 4-5 hour detour to get back onto I80.  We got back on around Ogallala, but were one of the only ones on the road.  We stopped for dinner in Cheyenne and then headed out into an even worse storm through the Wyoming passes.  We had black ice, blinding blowing snow with 50 mph wind gusts as well as a blizzard warning.  We were totally blind so Bob found a semi and we literally followed its lights.  There were cars in the ditches everywhere.  It is probably one of the scariest things I have ever been through and I am extremely grateful for Bobs careful driving and the guardian angels guiding us! By the time we hit Rawlins, they had closed the freeway and we were forced to exit. We found a hotel and stayed the night in Rawlins.  It ended up being over 16 hours of travel that day and we were beyond exhausted!!!