Our 7 Hour Drive That Took 1 1/2 Hours To Begin

Yesterday had all been planned out for our trip to see Corey, Nikki and Derek. We'd packed the suitcases on Tuesday night, gathered all our items to put in the trunk for our emergency kit, had the oil changed in the car and done everything we could think of to prepare to leave right after I got home from work. However, things don't sometimes go as planned. I got up 1/2 hour earlier (3:30 a.m.) to make a run to Wal-Mart for a new bag of doggie food for the furry kids before heading to the parking lot to carpool to the oilfield. Work was going to be a short day since we were getting off at 2:00 p.m. because of the holidays.

Two hours before we were to leave I realized I had no paycheck given to me yet. So, I went to find out why. I found out the checks had not arrived in Casper and that office would be closing in less than an hour. Consequently, there would be no paycheck until Friday. Obviously that was going to be too late for us as we were leaving in a couple of hours. My world came crashing down as I'd just paid several bills with monies we'd had thinking I'd have a brand new supply to take us to Utah. I admit I started crying. I had so looked forward to making the trip since we'd spent Christmas alone and Joe and I definitely needed a change of pace. To make a long story short...one of the girls in the office came to me and gave me a sufficient amount of money needed to make the trip, another one comforted me and one of the guys gave me some money just in case I needed more. Also, one of the men has a wife who works at our new bank and he volunteered to have pick up my paycheck on Friday and have it deposited for me. I realized how fortunate I was to have these new friends who would think enough of me to help me out in my time of need. These people had only known me for four weeks were willing to care enough to help.

When I finally arrived home, we loaded the suitcases and the Furry Kids into the car and took off for the Doggie Dude Ranch which would be the Furry Kids hotel for the next few days. Between the excessive wind, the numerous other barking guests and getting our kids settled into their temporary quarters, it had taken 1 1/2 hours to finally get on the road.

The trip went well, other than excessively high winds that felt as though we were being blown off the road at times. We hit snow covered roads up in the Utah Canyons, but were grateful we never encountered any wildlife or bad drivers and finally arrived at the kid's home after 11:00 p.m.

How wonderful it was to see everyone again although I'd recently seen Corey during our move and Nikki and Corey a few weeks before. It was nice to know that we could make a trip to see them now in about 7 hours vs. seeing them approximately every 6 months. I guess it really hit me when I realized that we were driving our car from our home to visit with them. We all celebrated the new year with snacks and some sparkling cider and then quickly made our ways to our bed before collapsing.