Sunday, January 4, 2015

HIS plan, not ours!

We started our journey home from Colorado yesterday, but little did we know what our day would hold!!!! 

We began by having breakfast with our sweet friends, Mel and Nancee Conant in Denver! 


When we left Denver, it was snowing but we didn't think much of it! Rich acted concerned that the weather was supposed to get worse the more East we got, I didn't really care! I was very confident in his driving skills and knew he could get us home in ONE day! :) 

A little further down the road, we couldn't see 10 ft in front of our car! Rich acted nervous, and I still refused to act like I thought there was a problem! 


This was our view, and I was graciously volunteering to drive our family! HOME! Don't get me wrong, we had an amazing trip, but once the vacation is over, it's over! 

Needless to say, after a couple hours of driving, we were "re-routed" off the interstate to a side street! The town was named, "Stratton" population 650?! Rich asked if I wanted him to get a hotel and I said no, we can wait it out! :) I just knew it would die down and the interstate would reopen shortly! 

The interstate was closed all the way to the Kansas border and we were told it would not be reopening until the next morning! Needless to say, I was less than chipper! I was on the phone with hotels.com trying to find a hotel anywhere in the area. The closest one was 2 hours away, and we had no way to get there! So, we were going to be staying at the Town Hall in Stratton. I felt like it was something out of a movie, and there was no way this was really happening! 

Rich scored us a corner spot, and our kids thought it was so cool! Kaylor undecorated their Christmas tree over and over!



We overheard the Police talking about a chili supper they were having at the school cafeteria to support some local FFA boys who were raising money for a trip to Thailand! I invited our family to go! :)

The Baker family also went, and I am so glad they did! 


We joked about our sleeping arrangements and how we were still in shock that this was really happening! They are from Boulder, and were only 2 hours from being home! Big bummer!!!

After eating, we went back to the Town Hall to hang out for the night! I was dreading trying to get Kaylor to sleep in this room, so had already decided we were sleeping in the car!

THEN....it all changed! The Ludwig family came in and said they had seen us at the chili supper and wondered if our family and the Bakers would want to come stay at their hunting lodge! Hello???? Of course, we would love to! I think rich was so shocked that I said yes! Our families and a sweet lady named Diana loaded up and followed the Ludwigs out to their property! 




The kids had a blast playing, and we loved visiting by the fire! :) 

This morning, lance had fixed the kids a nice breakfast before we got on the road! 




What started out as a scary night with plenty of unknowns, ended up being a night that our family will never forget! 

There are still nice people out there, y'all! We were completely taken care of and safe in a situation that could have been very different! One thing I saw is that God is always faithful! He provides a way when we can't see a way! (We thought we would be sleeping in our car with our kids and eating what we could find from the gas station!) 

We had a wonderful chili/soup supper and met great new friends! Memories were made!!! Great end to our trip! 

Always eventful traveling with the Richardsons! :) only 9 more hours in the car! 😁😁😁