The Return Trip

The return from California was much more interesting than I had planned for. We delayed our departure for a day because we didn’t want to drive over Donner Pass in a snowstorm. This meant that we planned to leave at 11 am on Thursday rather than 11 am on Wednesday. But then on Wednesday evening Patches announced a dire need for a pot to throw up in. He didn’t actually throw up until more than an hour later when we had company visiting. Deyo and Mctavish were extremely kind. They were so convincing about not minding, that I finished their visit with Patches snuggled into my lap and occasionally depositing into the pot. It was so fun to visit with them, like having new friends and old all wrapped into one happy package.

As the visit wound down to a close Howard and I discussed travel options. Stomach flu usually has an incubation of 12-48 hours. The drive home takes about 12 hours. We figured the sooner we left, the greater likelihood that we could arrive home before anyone else started exhibiting symptoms. So Howard crashed into a nap and I finished packing the car. The kids all got to stay up and watch movies. Around 1am Howard staggered out and we loaded tired kids into the car and left. We had a bucket for Patches, lots of paper towels, and many garbage bags. I’ve mentioned before how Patches is the sweetest sick child I’ve ever seen. He was a real trooper carefully using his bucket as necessary and not missing once.

In short order all four kids were asleep. They continued to sleep for the next 7 hours. I caught some sleep too. Donner pass was clear, but there were some high winds which blew snow over the roads. It was rather eerie to be driving at 4 am on a windy road through a forest with the wind buffeting the van. Powdered snow curled across the road almost like mist and then seemed to reach out and grab the van as we drove past. We learned to watch those swirls and slow down because they indicated strong winds which would throw snow at the entire van. There were a few trucks on the road with us, but for the most part it was just us and the snow and wind and road. I found myself thinking of Caradharas and picturing snow elementals of the mountains objecting to our intrusion into their domain. True to the Caradharas image, the winds stopped pushing at us once we were headed away from the mountain rather than up to the top. The rest of the trip had occasional high winds, but none as poetically interesting as that pre-dawn passage over Donner.

At Lovelock we stopped for gas and I took over driving for three hours. Everyone else slept while I entertained myself by eating snacks and singing along to music. We stopped for breakfast at Elko. Howard and I fully expected the kids to insist on going in to the McDonald’s play place, but one and all they declared that they couldn’t go play there because Patches was sick and we might get other kids sick. Have I mentioned what wonderful, thoughtful children I have? They were kind and considerate of each other during both of our long drives. During the last leg of the trip Howard drove, the kids watched movies, and I took some naps.

In all, it was an excellent road trip with just enough adventure to it that we’ll have stories to tell. It bodes well for our hoped for long road trip next summer. For now we’re all tired and just glad to be back at home.