A Moving Experience

At noon on Friday Jim and I picked up our Penske moving truck and brought it back to our house. One of the young guys from his office brought a friend over to help Jim get Katie's bed down from the 3rd floor and our old couch up from the basement. They ended up staying and in 40 minutes we had all of Katie's stuff loaded into the truck. At 4:00 we met up with Lauren's family to pick up the IKEA orders we had placed from a warehouse in Webster Groves. After placing those in the truck, we went to Lauren's house and got all of her stuff on board. By 5:30 Katie, Jim and I were placing our order at the Trainwreck Saloon for a last St. Louis family meal together.

Saturday morning Katie and I left our house at 8:00 to take Kirby to Cahokia, where my niece would take care of him while we were in Chicago. Jim called when he in the Penske truck and the DeGroots in their van hit the Poplar Street Bridge. Katie and I jumped back on the highway and we were on our way. We made really good time until we were about 80 miles outside of Chicago, which is when I-55 shut down. Both northbound lanes of the interstate came to a complete stop. As sirens blared and lights flashed behind us, all the cars and trucks crept as far to the shoulder as we possibly could, considering construction was going on and the shoulders were mushy roto millings.Several members of our group walked towards the accident scene, and as I stood by our car I saw the medi-vac helicopter approach. At that point southbound I-55 was closed as well so the helicopter could land.

I began to chat with the couple in the pretty Lexus ahead of me, and learned that they were returning to Naperville after attending a 50th anniversary party at the Whitmore Country Club in St. Louis on Friday. When I commented on how great it is that the couple has been together that long, the woman told me that she and her husband have know each other since they were 15. But both of them had married other people (in fact her first husband was in her second husband's first wedding!) - wow, you need a score card to follow all that. Her first husband had died of a heart attack at age 55, and her current husband's first wife had died of breast cancer 7 years ago. They had then become re-acquainted and later married.

I explained that our three vehicles were heading to Chicago to take the girls back to Columbia College. The man said that two of his children had graduated from there as well. Small world... By now our surveilance crew returned from the accident scene and said that they had seen body bags on the pavement, with at least one of them containing a body. There was also wet substance smeared across the highway, and this was before the fire department had done their job. Don't even want to speculate there. By the time it was all said and done, we spent an hour and a half stuck on the interstate. We called the apartment complex as we were scheduled to use the loading dock from 3-6, and there was no way we were going to be there by 3. They were very accommodating and said we could have extra time. As it turned out, we arrived at 4 and had everything moved in from the truck and the two vehicles by a little before 6 anyway. We started putting furniture together and at least had Katie's bed ready for her when we finally took off for our hotel room at 9:30 that night.

At the Hyatt, which offers a great rate for customers of Katie's apartment building, I heard the front desk clerk say something about executive room, and I assumed it is because I have a Hyatt customer card. But when we got to our room, we had a corner suite! Windows facing downtown and windows facing the lake, a whole living room area with a t.v, king size bed with another t.v., bathroom with two sinks, a large desk area, and a kitchen completed the suite. Very nice! After quick showers we fell into bed anxious for a good night's sleep after the stress of the day, but that was not to be. Let alone hearing doors slamming all night long, there were the most obnoxious people out in the halls. Different groups throughout the night laughing and talking loudly. At 5 a group of men coming in from their night on the town decided to hold a conversation in the hallway, followed shortly by another man who locked himself (or was locked out) of his room. Brother... This was not good as we were driving home on Sunday as soon as we finished putting Katie's furniture together and got her room to a reasonable stopping point. I did not want us to be another statistic on I-55 due to falling asleep at the wheel.

We started back on the apartment at 10:00, took a break to eat lunch with the other family at noon, and at 1:30 Lauren's family left to drive back to St. Louis. We stayed with Katie until 4:15 and then took the truck key back to the Penske rental place. (The guys had dropped the truck off Saturday night, but the lock box was broken and they were afraid to leave the key lest the truck be stolen.) By 4:35 we were on the road, and got home at 9:45.

The apartment really is lovely, and I hope that the three girls all have a great year together in Chicago. Meanwhile, I'm going to fluff my feathers in my empty nest.

Let it Snow - Somewhere Else!

We survived the road trip from hell. We left our house at 10:30 Tuesday morning to drive to my in-law's house, which is located in northern Iowa. Normally it is a 6 hour drive. There was absolutely nothing normal about this drive. A few miles from the Bowling Green exit on Highway 61, I noticed that all the vehicles heading south on the highway had their flashers on and were traveling at a snail's pace. That was my first clue that what was up ahead would not be pretty. Of course I would be the one driving. Prior to our departure I had checked the weather station and on-line weather resources, which revealed no problems with the weather or roads in St. Louis, Hannibal, or Iowa City. Why I believed any of them, I have no idea. Chalk it up to being in the Christmas spirit. (Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.) It began to rain before we got to Chesterfield Valley, but with the temperature in the low 30's, this was not a problem. What happened near Bowling Green was a drop in temperature to the 28 degree mark, leading to black ice. As one car after the other slipped and slided ahead of us on the road, we watched car after car head into the median or off the shoulder into a ditch. With my hands tightly clenched on the steering wheel, I crept along behind a propane gas truck, ultimately driving on the shoulder of the road as it had a grooved surface. Just as I suggested to my husband that we get off the highway so we discuss the wisdom of continuing, the traffic came to a total hault. A tractor trailer carrying fuel had jack-knifed, and was blocking both of the north bound traffic lanes. About 30 feet from the Bowling Green exit. Had he been a little further along we could have all taken the exit ramp to go around him. There was nothing to do but sit it out. People began to leave their cars and hike up the exit ramp, to use the restroom I presume. Some either extremely brave or extremely stupid drivers drove in the median or up an embankment to get around the accident. I looked at the Fed Ex truck on my left and commented that there was one delivery that wasn't going to be made on time. After a while the Fed Ex driver hopped out of the truck and took pictures of the accident and all the traffic stacked up behind us. My husband said he was probably trying to prove to his boss that he really was stuck in traffic and not out goofing off. A highway patrol car finally showed up, took a look, and took off. An ambulance arrived and sat on the southbound shoulder, adding to the trials of the southbound drivers. Then a fire truck appeared on the outer road to see what was going on. A couple of tow trucks drove by, apparently decided it was too big of a job and headed off to pull all the other poor drivers out of the ditches. After an hour, a small rusty tow truck stopped to take a look. As I looked at the condition of this new arrival, I thought to myself that there is no way he will be able to move that big rig. But sure enough, he was like the Little Engine That Could. After a few manuevers he got the tractor turned around and pulled the whole thing off on the shoulder of the road. We slowly crept around the accident site and saw that most travelers were taking the Bowling Green exit, which has quite a big incline to it. I decided to keep the momentum going with my car, and we traveled on to the next safe exit to get gas and regroup. By then I had a crushing headache and I felt like I was going to throw up. I can't remember the last time I drove on roads that bad, or was that scared. A call to my in-laws provided us with the news that it was sunny and dry (well, as dry as the town could be with 8 inches of snow on the ground) there. Jim took over the wheel and we decided to travel a little further to see if things improved. From there through Hannibal we had sleet, but the temperature climbed back to the freezing mark. Further north there was no precipitation. In the end, it took us 8 and a half stressful hours to get there. Charles City got a couple more inches of snow while we were there, and for Christmas Eve Mass the temperature was negative 3 degrees. It was 34 degrees when we left there this morning and 61 when we arrived in St. Louis. Go figure...Despite all of that we had a wonderful Christmas, and we can't wait for Andy and Megan to get here tomorrow.

Close Encounters of the Worst Kind

My husband owns a Victory motorcycle. He absolutely loves to ride, and I have to say that since he got it a couple of years ago he has been a different person. With the stress of three businesses weighing on him. going out with his friends has been a great way of clearing his head. I have always joked that his bike is better than a mistress and less expensive than a sports car, but the latter is not accurate anymore. While I worry about his physical health whenever he goes out, I understand that the benefits for his psychological health outweigh my worries. Until today... Jim went out with two friends late this afternoon as we have picture perfect weather here today. Just as they were leaving, I heard them say they were taking I-44 to the Highway 100 exit as opposed to the original route down Highway 21. Off they went. I was finishing up the wedding quilt I am making for Andy and Megan, doing the last hand sewing on the binding while watching the 6:00 news. Breaking news came on announcing that there had been a fatal motorcycle accident on I-44 near Pacific, which would be where my guys were headed. Just as I was deciding whether or not to panic, the doorbell rang. My heart dropped to my feet, and I began praying there was not a policeman at my door. It was my neighbor, Erin, asking if I had talked to Jim. I said I had not, and asked what she had heard. She had seen video footage of a black motorcycle down on I-44 on a different chanel. Jim's bike is black. I hurriedly called his cell phone, knowing that if he was still riding he would not answer it. He picked up on the fourth ring. They had stopped to eat, which is why he was able to talk to me. I explained what had transpired, and indeed they had taken that route to the restaurant. While I said prayers of thanksgiving for that fact that our group was safe, I offered up some for the family that was getting quite different news tonight.