Over the Freeway and Through the Snow

Over the Freeway and Through the Snow

And they were off! After no small amount of persuasion on the

parents' art, the Osterheims were finally headed to Becky's parents' golden anniversary celebration.

Leaving their home in Papillion, Nebraska early on the Friday before New Years, they hoped to arrive at their motel in Albert

Lea, Minnesota plenty in advance of the celebration on Saturday

afternoon. Hopefully, they would be ahead of the holiday and week-end rushes.

"Who in their right mind would have gotten married just before

New Years in Minnesota?" quipped seventeen year old Kirk from

the second seat of the family Tahoe. "The hockey guys were planning an awesome party for New Years. And where am I going

to be? At some lame old people's party!"

"Those lame old people happen to be your grandparents," Becky retorted. "It isn't every day someone gets the opportunity

to celebrate fifty years of marriage. Your grandparents would be devastated if you weren't there. Besides, it'll be a good time to re-

connect with the cousins you haven't seen in awhile."

"Big Whoop!" he growled as he immersed himself in what he was

missing on his Smart Phone.

"And I'm missing the Snow Prom," whined Angela. "that's all everybody will be talking about after Christmas vacation. What will I have to talk about but that I went to my grandparents' wed-

ding anniversary? How lame!"

With that, she put her ear buds in, tuning everyone else out.

Pete rolled his eyes at Becky. He decided to check the weather

forecast. Snow was beginning to fall just north of Des Moines.

With two surly teens in tow, this just might be an interesting trip.

Oh well. He was a native Minnesotan. He could handle a little

snow. The kids' attitude, not so much.

Traffic was moving well along I-80. No snow. In fact, no moisture at all. So far, so good.

It wouldn't be long before they'd be approaching Des Moines.

With any luck, they'd even avoid the rush hour.

He and Becky visited over plans for the anniversary. The cele-

bration was to be held at a new in-town venue, known as "The

Barn of chapeau Shores" on the est side of town.

Rumored to be a very nice place, it had, at one time, been used

as a student center for a now defunct college.

Later on, it served as a lodge for Sons of Norway.

In just the last year, it had come under new ownership and had

seen extensive renovation.

Becky, for one, couldn't wait to see what had been done with

the old building.

After hearing of the makeover, she and her siblings had decided

it sounded like the perfect place for the festivities.

Hopefully, she, Pete, and the kids would arrive in time to help with some of the set-up and decorating.

A couple hours later, having navigated through the metro maze

and successfully transitioned unto I-35, Pete asked,"Anybody up

for breakfast? There's an IHOP just ahead."

"Yeah!" This was the first positive reaction he'd gotten from the

kids since leaving home.

As they pulled into the burgeoning parking lot, everyone agreed

this must be the place to be, judging be the number of cars and the people streaming in and out.

In spite of the liveliness of the place, they found a booth and were promptly greeted by a pleasant waitress. She offered them coffee and the special of the morning.

When orders had been placed, the kids once again returned to

their cellphones to see what they had missed.

Pete looked out the window to see the white stuff beginning to fall in earnest. It wasn't even there ten minutes ago.

Turning to the family, he remarked,"Better make this quick. The snow is really moving in. We'd better try to get as far as we can before it gets worse.

Before long, they were enjoying the steaming coffee and plates

of cakes and eggs.

After hastily finishing breakfast, they once again loaded into the

vehicle to head north. With any amount of luck, they'd be at their

destination in a little over two hours.

But the snow kept falling. The wind was coming up. In spite of

the traffic, snow was beginning to gather on the roadway, making

steering a challenge.

Visibility was getting worse. Traffic began to slow. A few cars up

ahead, a car spun out, landing in the right median.

Brake lights started to appear as traffic slowed even further.

"Do you think we should pull off at the next exit?" Becky quest-

ioned. "The Boondocks is just ahead."

The Boondocks was a well known truck stop along 35.

"I think, if we take it slow, we'll be alright,"was Pete's reply.

"Whoa!" Kirk shouted as a Dodge Ram flew by them,adding

to the white knuckle experience. "Somebody's in a hurry!"

Inch by inch, it seemed, they made their way. Vehicles in the

ditch were becoming a more and more common sight.

Like the traffic, time now seemed to be crawling.

Just then, a bulletin came over the radio: "Due to blizzard con-

ditions and numerous accidents, the DOT will be closing I-35 at

the Clear Lake I-194 exit/entrance. No traffic will be allowed in either direction until further notice."

"Now what'll we do?" asked a panic-stricken Angela.

"I guess we turn off at the Boondocks," was Pete's reply.

"Do we really want to do that?" Kirk asked.

"Do we really have a choice?" was Pete's answer. "If we get

stranded on the highway and have to be rescued, it could cost us

up to $1,000. And that's not the half of it. If you're sitting out there, stranded, you're a sitting duck, just waiting to be hit by

someone, maybe a snowplow. When they're clearing roads, they

can't always know what's in the snowbank they're trying to clear."

As they inched their way onto the upcoming exit, they could see many people had the same idea. The truck stop lot, already

teeming with parked semis and every other vehicle imaginable,

indicated what awaited them in the establishment. The business

was going to be packed.

"How many times have you had to do this before?" the kids asked in unison>

"Fortunately, never. But, there's a first time for everything. When the DOT closes a road, they do it for good reason: to

save lives and avoid injury to people and property alike," in-

formed Pete. "Let's get in," he said as he put the vehicle in park.

"With any luck, we might just still get a booth.

Fighting the snow, wind and cold, they caught their breath

as they made their way into the entryway.

Their hearts began to sink as the eyed the rapidly filling dining

room

Waitresses were doing their level best to seat patrons, even asking them to consider sharing booths with complete strangers.

The Osterheims were soon seated with a genial trucker who offered them seats at his booth as some of his buddies left to check on their trucks.

Soon he was telling the of his many cross country adventures.

Among them was the story of the Halloween ice storm of ninety-

one.

"During that one," he recounted," the storm blew in with a vengeance on Halloween night. The ice became so heavy it

broke down trees, power poles and lines for miles. This took out

electric power and heat to thousands of people. In some cases, people were without these necessities for two weeks.

Crews came in from other parts of the country in order to repair

the damage.

"No electricity or heat? Angela asked incredulously. "How did people stay warm?"

"Those lucky enough to have generators were able to run them just long enough to have bare necessities, like minimal heat, flush a stool, make a quick meal. Others survived under as many layers of clothing as they could find, subsisting on cold or dry food from

their pantries."

"No showers or t.v,?" asked Angela.

"They were both luxuries most people in this situation couldn't

afford. Power, when you could get it, had to be conserved for

absolute necessities."

"No cell phones or video games?" Kirk asked.

"They either weren't invented or in wide use at that time. And,

without electricity to power them up, they would have been use-less anyway. "

"As power came back up, people congregated to the places having power. In some cases, when schools opened up, ill kids

went to school in order that they'd be in a place with heat."

"Ew! Germ factory!" remarked Angela.

"Probably was, but desperate times called for desperate mea-

sures. Hey! Look folks, it's been real nice visiting with you, but I'd

better get out and see if my truck is still running. gotta be ready to roll when the road is opened again."

With that, the family bid him farewell and offered to share their

space with still other travelers.

Gradually, the influx of bodies slowed to a trickle before the word got out that the highway would soon be opening up.

It was Kirk who reacted first to the new. "C'mon, let's getgo-

ing! he quipped. "Can't wait to tell the cousins or the guys back

home what I've learned. They're never gonna believe it!"

",