TaylorTafting on Ice

ROAD TRIP!!!!

"Dad, what's up with the flashing blue and red lights?"

Today we drove up to Flagstaff for a little fun in the snow. We decided to wait until the teenie guy was ready for a nap to begin our trek in the hopes that he would sleep for the first hour or so before. And everything went according to plan with one slight exception - Sonoma was too excited.

[Side note: Sonoma likes barking at people, other dogs, and motorcycles; especially when they are invading her space - such as walking on the sidewalk in front of our house. I mean the nerve of some people. No consideration. End side note]

Even though we left on a rainy day, apparently everyone decided it was a great time to walk their dog, go for a jog, ride their motorcycle, etc. So wouldn't you know it, everytime we approached said instance, safely in our little Matrix where no one could get to us, Sonoma decided to warn them with a bark or two. Guy walking his dog - Bark BARK!! Guy walking with groceries - BARK Don't even think of using that baguette on us, BARK!! Seriously, why is everyone out in the rain.

And each time, she woke our sleeping baby. We tried distracting her and giving her treats, but that didn't work. All we had to do was make it to the freeway and all would be quiet for Nathan to take a nap. Because, seriously, who would be walking on the freeway. I mean c'mon. That never happens. One block away from the on-ramp and we remembered that we forgot to pack the gloves!!! U-turn! Return home, more people, find new route to freeway.

Note doggy drool and sleeping baby

On the road again. This time for reals, yo. Nathan slept for just under 2 hours!!! WooHoo!! Good quality quiet driving time. Snap some diving photos of Sonoma. Enjoy the scenery. Oh look, that car's on fire. SNOW!!

And when he woke up, he was even in a good mood since he was well rested. That lasted about 45 minutes until he realized he was stuck in a carseat. So we looked for the next place to stop. Unfortunately, it had started to snow so we were only driving about 30 mph and wouldn't you know it, no exits for a bajillion miles. Well, there was the random dirt road or two, well covered in snow, that I doubt our little Matrix would be able to make it out should the snowing get heavier. So, 20 minutes later, we take the upcoming exit, slide to a stop just in time to avoid a truck, and pull into the gas station for a little relaxation before heading off to have fun in the snow.

"um, now what?"

Laura and Sonoma

TaylorTafting on Ice

If you're still with me, I'll try to be quick here (sort of like a movie when they get to the 2 hour mark and realize they haven't wrapped everything up just yet). I wanted to be out of Flagstaff by 3pm, because a snowstorm was scheduled promptly at 4pm. And I have never driven in snow until about 2 paragraphs ago. So not very excited about driving out at 3:40 with heavy snow falling, car slipping and sliding, while driving 17 MPH. Laura needs to pee, miss entrance and slide into drive-thru exit. No one coming, because, seriously who does drive thru in a snowstorm. Drive around to entrance, almost kill a family because Matrix forgets the code we have well established: Brake = stop; gas = go; ipod = jammin'; and slide into what I will graciously call a parking spot.

So much for being quick here.

Back out into the snowstorm (probably a generous classification on my park, but I live in the desert). This time 12mph, almost get squished by a bus, because the lane I was using no longer exists (if it did to start with). When we get to the fork in the road, Phoenix to the left, NM to the right, we start to wonder why absolutely no one is going the Phoenix route. So we slow down a bit more, because we no longer have tire tracks to follow, only snow to drive on. After a bit of wondering if the road has been closed we see a few vehicles merging onto the highway. We also see an SUV that has obviously rolled over after having slid a great distance. After successfully merging do we A) stay in the right lane with the sane folks or B) kick it with the fast left lane and their fancy tire tracks. We stay to the right, because we value life and I have no idea how to drive in a snowstorm - I even have a driver's license to prove the system functions well. Anyhoo, slowly, but surely we made it home. At least Nathan slept though the snowstorm part of it.