As tired as I was last night, it was impossible to lay down to go to sleep right away so I just stayed up and did some laundry and caught up on the news around here from Grahame. Of course, Oblio "the round head" had missed my not being here and that crazy cat hung on to me like my 3 kids used to when I would have to leave them somewhere that they didn't want to be at. Before I went to bed, I took a look at the few photos that I had taken along the way home and realized just what I had driven through in order to get home. I'm grateful to have made it back to Kansas in one piece, more or less, and this weekend past will always be a nice memory for me.
Early yesterday morning, the car was loaded and ready to return to the "sunflower state". Mike made sure that I had water, snacks, and everything else needed to be comfortable on the way home. In the off chance that I might have had trouble again as happened on Saturday morning, we both wanted me to be prepared. So with a full tank of gas, a good night's rest, and a tasty breakfast of pancakes and coffee, I was ready to head out and try again to get home. Before I left, I stopped to pause and take a photo of the most beautiful sunrise in the eastern sky. After the dreary and gloomy sky of Saturday morning, those rays of sunshine seemed like a promise that the trip home might be easier and since my overall level of confidence was at near zero, it was kind of nice to see.
The view out of the kitchen window as seen yesterday.
As I pulled out of the driveway, I glanced back one more time to see Mike smiling at me and holding up 3 fingers to signify the number of weeks it would be before I returned. With that nice thought, I headed out on what would be a much less "eventful" trip up the mountain than the day before. Slow but sure, with my head on straight, I made the climb upwards in order to cross over the pass at Monarch. Little by little, I made it.
When I got to the Cerro Summit, the first one as you leave Montrose, I could tell that the roads had definitely improved from the day before. By the time I found the spot called "Arrowhead" (where I'd had the problem the day before) I knew that I would probably be ok. I slowed down (all the way from 22 mph to 15 mph) momentarily to look at the place where I had slipped into the ditch and uttered a word of thanks that at least for today I was going to get beyond it. By the time I made it to the half-way point at Gunnison, I felt sure that I'd make it and turns out that I did.
At the top of Monarch Pass I stopped to take a photo of what it looked like that day. The only way I can describe it was "surreal"....such a drastic change from where I had started the day in Montrose as well as what I would find as I headed down the mountain toward Salida. The pictures below tell it better than I can....
The snowy landscape, the icy roads and the cloud filled dreary sky were actually, in a strange sort of way, beautiful. As a life-long "snow hater", I felt almost mesmerized by the way things looked and I found myself thinking that snow probably wasn't nearly as bad as they way I'd always looked at it before. There was a very quiet stillness, a peacefulness about the area~to Peggy Miller, it was the "top of the world" as I knew it and weirdly enough to say, I'm glad that I was there for that very brief moment in time.
13 hours after I had started out, I entered Reno County and when I saw that Hutchinson was less than 30 miles away, I began to loosen the "death grip" that I had kept on the steering wheel for over 600 miles. My shoulders relaxed a bit and my worry and anxious feelings subsided for I was nearly at home. When I hit the city limits at about 8:15 it was with a very thankful heart to have arrived back safe and sound. All in all, everything turned out ok. Friends, my dearest of comrades, I want to thank you for praying me home. I got a call from a friend back here in Hutch who told me that they were thankful that I had been updating my Facebook page each time I stopped along the way. She told me of all the different folks who had commented about where I was at during the day and it made me feel so much better, so much more at peace, to know that there were people who knew where I was at most any given point along the way between Montrose and Hutchinson. Turns out I wasn't by myself at all. I am beholden to you friends for your kindness and love, your concern and special friendships. I couldn't have made the trip home without you guiding me along the way.
It's dark here now and night time continues to "swallow up" my part of the earth. Taking it easy and resting tonight with plenty to do to keep me busy in the days ahead. I will be returning to Montrose for 3 days at the beginning of March. Since my plan is to move there when school is out in May, I'll be taking another carload of things there when I go back in just 3 weeks. I figure it will help to take stuff out as I go and am still deciding what all I will take with me. For sure, the stuff in the "over my dead body" pile goes first. As a matter of fact, on this past weekend's trip, packed among my stuff in the back seat was a "stow away" of sorts. My grandmother's 50-year old real Easter egg was one of the things I took out on this trip. Luckily it fared the journey very well so I don't have to worry about it getting squashed with the next batch of stuff. I know it's crazy to keep it after all of these many years, but to the little 7-year old girl that I used to be, it was a "treasure" from Grandmother Brown's hands unto mine. No amount of money would change my mind and I told Mike, with a smile on my face, that wherever I go, the egg goes as well. He understood~
Saying good night now to all of you, sweet dreams and a pleasant and peaceful night's rest. For all of the "mountains" that you guys have to cross, day in and day out, I pray that you will have the ability to do so. Whether it be scaling Monarch Pass or battling any other of life's challenges, we are all in this TOGETHER. I still will always believe in the concept of "strength in numbers" and that sticking together, covering one another's backs is the only way we are going to survive in this sometimes, ridiculously crazy world of ours. Thanks for being on my side~and if you are looking for me, well just look right beside you cause that's where I intend to be.
The view along the way home. I cannot believe I am going to say this~I have learned the snow and wintertime can actually be enjoyable and breathtaking, as long as you stay out of the ditch....kind of like bicycling can be fun and enjoyable, hey even breathtaking as well just so long as you don't try to jump a curb. It's all in perspective friends, all in perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment