Road Closure, Blizard and tornado oh my!!

On our trip to WI we drove there in 24 hours we had left at 6Pm and arrived the next day around 7PM WI time.  The kids were great they slept the whole night and watched movies during the day.  Well, I wish it had gone as smoothly on the way home.  It was one thing after another keeping us from getting home .  We left right after my grandpas funeral around 1pm.  We thought, this will be great we'll get home tomorrow around 12 and we will take a nap.  We didn't really listen to my Uncle when he said there is supposed to be a bad storm going across the plains.  I hope you don't run into it.  We figured we would take our chances I mean how bad could it be?  We don't even know if it would really affect us.   We started off going the wrong way and had to turn around and then we got lost again.  Then we were off ready for the long nights drive. It started getting really windy so we called my dad to see what the weather was looking like ahead of us.  He told us there was tornado warning in Omaha and a blizzard to follow.  We were praying not to run into any tornado's, but while I was sleeping around 9:30pm  Brian swears that when he was approaching Omaha he saw two funnel clouds forming ahead of him.  He was so freaked out that he gunned it at 95MPH on the highway.  I told him he should have woken me up.  After that, the blizzard came and the road closed.   We had to find a hotel for the night.  We stayed in a dumpy motel 8 for the night hoping the roads would open early morning.   That didn't exactly happen.  We woke up to really load winds blowing at the window and got up for our continental breakfast.  When we got there they had taken away the cereal (the main course) because they were out of milk).  So all they had left was toast and muffins.  When we got to the room after breakfast, Brian got on the Internet to watch for road openings, when all of  a sudden the window screen blew off!  It was so windy that the wind forced it off our window, CRAZY! We waited until 1pm before the roads opened back up.  We drove for about 6 hours and then got off for Dinner.  (all the way we were going 30-45MPH and sometimes at a complete stop, It wasn't snowing anymore but the old slow was blowing so fast, gust up to 40MPH I thought we where going to blow away.  And some cars did get blown off the road, hence the pic above.   The roads were so slick and it was really dangerous because if the snow blew on the road and you didn't slow down your were off the road stranded.  We saw many cars off the road even a tow truck!)  When we got back on the highway to drive the next exit had the road closure sign up.  It was only 7pm.  So we checked into another motel.  This time Best Western, which was way nicer than our last motel.   I went in search for a KMART to buy the girls a swimsuit so we could swim, because who knew how long we would be stuck in the middle of no where.  I had a map and headed to Kmart.  I was driving alone and I was driving away from the city, but I could have sworn I was going the right way.  The road I was on was not plowed so it was slick.  When I finally realized I was going the wrong way I decided to flip a U.  Well that didn't go so well.  I flipped a U right into a HUGE snow bank and got stuck!  I was about to cry.  I call Brian and he asked me what I was going to do.  I was expecting him to save me, but how was he going to save me with no car and 2 kids.  Luckily some guy with a HUGE truck stopped and had a toe rope.  So he tied me up and pulled me out.  I was so grateful for that guy.  I think his name was Jason.  I will always remember his kindness to save me.  I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't stopped who knows, I might have had to walk all the way back to my motel with no coat miles away.  I didn't end up getting to KMART because by the time I got saved it was to late and I was scared to go searching again.  

I just went back to the motel and we all got cleaned up.  I was board and wanted to be entertained so I decided to experiment with Mckenzies hair.  I straightened it.  How do you like it?  She loved it.  She is trying to grow it out so it is long and when it was straight is got way long.  Well, by morning after Kenzie sleeping on her hair, it was curly again.   We did end up making it home alive, but it was a rough trip home.  I think after that drive we could drive anywhere and it would seem easy!  I am just blessed that the lord was watching out for us and we always had a warm hotel to sleep in when the road closed.  the kids had a blast at the motels and we didn't loose to much sleep.  It actually let us recover from the trip a little.