Over the River and Through the Woods...

...to Grandmother's house we go!

Today was our travel day. Almost 15 years ago my mom declared, "I don't care if you never come back for Thanksgiving if it means you'll be here every Christmas." After that was settled, I got serious about cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and we go to Iowa every Christmas. We quite literally go over the river (Mississippi) and through the woods to get to my parents' house. We travel on 4 highways (290, 88, 80, 380) and 2 county roads (V65 and V62) to get there. In good weather, no traffic and just one stop we can make it in just over 4 1/2 hours. Today was not one of those days.

We made pretty good time, right up to the point we took the exit ramp off of 380. While the ramp looked damp, it was actually a sheet of ice, and as we tried to navigate the slippery slope, we found ourselves sliding backward and veering left. Our car slid off the road onto the shoulder, just missing a semi who had experienced the same fate earlier. Our driver's side wheels sank into the snow on the shoulder, keeping us from heading into the ditch. The trucker helped push us out, and on a second attempt we successfully made it up the ramp. The county roads were also slick as can be, and we took those last miles very, very slowly.

With the weather forecasts calling for 8-12 inches of snow over the next couple of days, I was so very thankful when we pulled into the driveway at Mom & Dad's. Once we arrived, it was a great feeling to know we're staying put for the next few days!