Yes, you read that correctly. Windsday. For those of you who followed us via SPOT today, you might have wondered what we were thinking. Not far from Flagstaff, AZ, we were diverted from Interstate 40 eastbound, back to the west; it was closed due to very high winds. There were dozens of trucks and cars waiting it out on the side of the road, but we decided to head back towards Flagstaff and try a route that took us north and then southeast to Gallup, NM. It took us about 3 hours out of our way and we experienced some pretty intense sand and wind storms up there. Jere got out to see if there was any paint left on the side of the van, such was the sandblasting it took. After about 2 hours, the blast became a mighty tailwind, and we sailed through the Navajo & Hopi Nations. The Navajo Nation Forest was a welcome scenery change outside of Gallup NM.
So our "big mile day" of 800 miles was stretched to 940 miles. The kids were troopers (it was a two-lollipop day) and we enjoyed talking, singing and listening to CD's together. We are now checked into our motel; I'm sure we will sleep well tonight.
Hello Vandewalle Family:) What a sand storm! Glad that is behind, but what a great weather experience. I like the SPOT GPS...so much fun to see exactly where you are. Have a wonderful nights sleep. May God bless and watch over your family.
ReplyDeleteJohnna
940 MILES!!!!! W O W ! ! !
ReplyDeleteThis is so wonderful. We will faithfully follow you across the country. Checking in with you and tracking your progress will be the highlight of my days, I'm sure. (I might even share this with my 3rd graders. They like maps.) Take care!
Hi. I am the brother of Nita (from your work), and live in Gallup, New Mexico. You got a taste of the winds that we get every spring in the Southwest. Coincidentally, I was traveling on the Navajo Nation yesterday for work, and the wind and dust was the worst that I've ever experienced in 14 years of driving in the Navajo Nation. At one point yesterday, I could not see more than 3 feet in front of my car,so I know what you went through. Good luck on your trip. Mike V.
ReplyDeleteNancy got me signed up! I'm looking forward to keeping track of your journey.
ReplyDeleteI was about ready to give Jere a hard time for missing the interchange and then backtracking until I read this :)
ReplyDeleteFavorite quote as of late: "you're only lost if you've run out of gas, all else is just exploring". - matt
Mike's comment sure puts things in perspective. We were wondering how in the world anyone could live out there. Jere topped off the gas tank in Tuba City and when he swiped his card, it sounded like sandpaper. Today it is windy on the 40, but it isn't as strong and it is actually helping our gas mileage!!
ReplyDeleteManya, so glad you are enjoying the blog. Feel free to share it with your students. Thanks for keeping up with us!
We enjoyed reading the news together this afternoon. The Schroeder children's comment was that it would have been a 25 lollipop day for us. (Josh added that it would have been a 6 gallon ice cream day :-) ) Abby and Emily once finished off an entire bag of yogurt pretzels in the back seat on the way to Boise...
ReplyDeleteSuch a reminder of our many trips from California to Iowa and back. And we had no air conditioning. Played many games, sang lots of silly songs and kept trip logs.
ReplyDelete