To Michigan and Back Again

As I stated yesterday, we planned to begin our journey to Michigan with a stopover at the cabin. When the cabin flooded, family members were concerned that it would change our plans to head up there for Christmas, but we knew that we wanted/needed to be there. All D’s siblings were going to be there as well as my family. Even D’s great grandma was joining the family for Christmas this year. It just isn’t something that happens that often. We had carefully coordinated to make sure that there was at least one day when everyone would be together. Yes, we couldn’t pass up this opportunity to see everyone. It had been many years since D, Munchkin, and I had been up there all together at Christmas, so everyone was excited.

One thing that we were really hoping for was to be able to have snow at the cabin. We knew that they had received a really good snowstorm up there, but we weren’t sure if there would still be snow on the ground by the time we arrived. When we first saw the snowcapped mountains, we had a glimmer of hope. The closest large city had a good deal of snow as we drove through. Sadly, the snow was gone at the cabin before we arrived. It was okay though as we knew there was still the possibility of snow for Christmas which is something Munchkin really wanted.

Our long journey up to Michigan started early Saturday morning. Somewhere along the way, D decided that we weren’t going to stop at a hotel but drive straight through instead. Oh, we made stops to go to the bathroom, eat, and stretch our legs, but that was about it. He and I took turns driving. All in all the trip took us 34+ hours to get there. (I can’t even remember exactly how long as we were so exhausted that I’ve apparently shut it out of my mind. lol!) We were able to  relax with my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces on Sunday evening. D and I ended up crashing earlier than later that night.

The trip back to the cabin (once again, a stopping point before doing the final leg home) started off late due to some issues that needed to be addressed with the trailer that we hauled back home. Because of this, we didn’t get as far as we would have liked the first day. We were very thankful to find a nice, pet-friendly hotel near Ft Leonardwood, MO. The staff was great, the price was good, and the room was clean. Sleep called and we listened. Because we knew that last leg of the journey would be long, we chose to sleep a bit later than we normally would on a trip.

Our final day of travel began at roughly 8:00 am on New Years Day. We tried to use the ESPN app to listen to the bowl games to keep our minds occupied while we took turns driving. It was hit or miss. When nightfall hit, the tempertures plummeted below zero. Throughout Texas and New Mexico, the temperatures were routinely 10 to 15 degrees (F) below zero. Brrrr!! The wind made it even colder. Stops and filling up with gas was a bitter cold experience, but the roads continued to remain clear. We finally reached the cabin between 7:00 and 8:00 am the next day. We were exhausted, but it turned out that instead of being able to just crawl into bed – our day had just begun….