We watched the sky lighten. We had not done any before dawn driving this trip. It was nice. We got some beautiful pictures of Salt Lake with mountains in the background.
Our trip was very uneventful. We stopped in Winnemucca NV and had lunch at a place Karen and Preston had eaten in September 2011 when they had gone to Colorado - bittersweet memories. While we in Winnemucca we checked the Reno weather and when we learned there was supposed to be snow this evening we changed our plans.
We drove to Verdi, canceled our reservation and make one in Roseville CA - 116 miles west of Verdi. It was 1:45 when we left Verdi and it should have been about a 2 1/2 hour drive. We were planning on being at our room at 4.
We crossed into California at 1:54pm. It was sunny and 46 degrees. We drove about 35 miles and it was snowing and 30 degrees. Navigation told us there would be a 20 minute delay. We started slowing down and soon we're stopped. People were pulling over and putting on chains. It was snowing hard. The trees were beautiful with the snow. We were stopped for about an hour. We moved ahead less than a quarter mile and saw a number of cars sliding and not able to go forward. We finally followed a car that was able to make it around the disabled vehicles. It was very slow going for about 15 miles but we were able to continue and not stop any more. Later we heard that Interstate 80 was closed because of the numerous stalled vehicles.
As we got to lower elevation the snow turned to pouring rain. We saw that the people headed east were experiencing the same thing we had earlier. There was at least 10 miles of backed up (stopped) cars.
We finished our trip in pouring rain, in the dark with heavy traffic. We arrived at our motel at 5:50. We ate in and rested.
THANKFUL: It is easy to be thankful when all is going well but the Bible teaches to always be thankful. We talked a little about this while stopped and waiting. We were where the Donner party lost their lives so many years ago. We had a warm car, snacks to last for at least 2 weeks. We also didn't have a certain place to be at a certain time. Our little car handled so well. There was much peace even though things certainly didn't go according to our plans.
Our entire trip has been full of events and circumstances where we could be thankful. We are thankful to God. We know that He is in control and we can trust and know that everything is known by Him. That brings peace in stressful situations. We are thankful.
Utah mountains and Reflections