**NOTE: As you are reading this, please keep this in mind, Traci and I are home and safe and sound.
Our Holiday weekend started on Tuesday night with Traci baking some cookies and me packing for our trip to South Dakota.
The weather, during the day, on Monday and Tuesday of last week averaged about 70 degrees. As we were heading out of town at 3pm, the weather began to chill and we were heading directly into bone chilling weather. A storm was passing through parts of Iowa, Northern Missouri and Nebraska as we began our journey. The storm ended up dropping a minimal amount of snow but left the roads slick as heck and as night fell, so did the temperatures.
We decided it would be a good idea to grab a quick bit to eat from one of the many truck stops. We each loaded up a hot dog and jumped back into the car. The "quick meal" from a truck stop was our biggest holiday mistake.
As we entered into Northern Missouri, the temperature gauge that displays the temperature on the outside of the car began to plummet. As we came upon the first of many bridges, we notice several emergency vehicles and approached with caution. As we drove on the overpass, our tires began to slip and spin and we immediately knew it was going to make our normal 5.5 hr drive into a lifetime as the bridge was covered with black ice. If you are not familiar with "black ice" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_ice, you are fortunate. It is hard to detect and slick as heck! It also forms on bridges quickly because air can travel underneath the bridge and cool the bridge super fast.
That horrible scene that we had just encountered was repeated another 3 times in the next 45 minutes. We saw a total of 17 cars in ditches and as we passed each car we said a quick prayer that each person was be joined with their family shortly.
After driving for 2 hours at 45mph and using a death grip on the steering wheel, the danger had passed and we finally relaxed and could enjoy our drive.
We arrived into Baltic, South Dakota http://baltic.govoffice.com/ about 10pm I was more than ready to drink a few beers with Dave, Traci's brother-in-law. My first beer went down very smooth and I started in on my second one. I got the hick-ups and started feeling "not-so-well". I noticed that Traci looked a bit peaked and thought that maybe the long drive had worn us down. We crashed out and ended up getting up throughout the night feeling ill. The next day brought no relief to our stomach pains and we determined that the culprit was a bad hot dog from the truck stop.
Thanksgiving dinner was spent at Richard and Deb's house. (Traci's dad and step-mom). The guest list included: Grandma Dybvig, Richard and Deb, A.C and Patty, Molly and the Wirkus clan. Our feast included all the trimmings and was given the honor of carving the turkey. Traci and I were still feeling ill but managed to eat a portion of everything. :-)
We turned in at 7pm that night so that "we" could get up at 3am and go stand in line for 2 hours in the 12 degree temperatures. 3 am came around and Traci popped up, got ready and headed out with her sister, to wait for the stores to open. I crashed out, work up at 7am and spent the next 21 hours staring at the t.v. wishing I could rip my guts out.
Once the shopping was done, Traci gave into the illness and jumped back into bed.
We got up this morning, still reeling from the "bad dog", and heading back over to Richard and Deb's for a Saturday morning snack. Once the meal was complete, we said our goodbyes and headed for home. As we drove by the truck stop, we both vowed to never stop there again.
We are still not operating at 100% and remain hopefully that we will wake up ready to take on the world... or at least feel well enough to enjoy going to the KU vs Arizona game in Lawrence tomorrow.
Holiday tips:
1. Black ice is bad stuff and should be avoided. If it cannot be avoided, do not use your brakes when you hit it.
2. Hot dogs from truck stops are bad news!!
Hope your Thanksgiving was as memorable as ours!
Bill and Traci
