December 30, 2015 - Day 3

We woke up to a Rocky Mountain view in beautiful Denver, Colorado. After the boring day of driving the day before, we were ready for some scenery. And Colorado definitely did not disappoint. Our plan for the day was to leave early, drive through the rest of Colorado, and take a quick detour to Arches National Park in Utah - all by noon. However, getting through Colorado ended up taking longer than expected (3 hours longer, to be exact). Driving 30 mph through snow storms and snow covered roads put us behind schedule.

These long horn sheep were on the side of the interstate

Photo op in snowy (and freezing) Colorado

We finally reached Arches National Park around 3:45 pm. With the sun going down in about an hour, we rushed through the park to see as much as we could. The park was completely breathtaking - actually the whole drive through Colorado and Utah was simply magnificent.

The sun had gone down as we were leaving Arches and it was my turn to drive. We planned to make it to Salt Lake City, which was only 3 hours away, and then stop for the evening. We noticed while driving through Utah that there were not many exits from the interstate, or if there were, they were marked “No Services” - meaning no gas, no restaurants, no hotels, nothing. We saw a sign that said "No Service for 106 miles". Within 5 miles, it started to snow.

Let me set the scene for you… it was pitch black outside and already hard to see, no exits with any signs of civilization, no cell service, and the snow just kept coming down. Being from Tennessee, and an area that gets very little snow, I am not familiar with driving in these conditions. After an hour of driving in this and no end in sight, to say I was freaking out is a huge understatement. I think I prayed about every 2 minutes for us to arrive safely somewhere, anywhere. With each road sign in the distance, I got my hopes up. But as we would get closer to the signs, we saw that it was yet another “No Services” exit. UGH! At this point, I was seriously FREAKING OUT! After 2 hours of crying and trying to drive in the snow (not recommended), absolutely no cell service, and no exits, we pulled to the side of the road and Andrew started driving. Not long after that, we finally came upon an actual exit. We stopped for gas, food, and to collect our thoughts and our sanity. We found a hotel that was 2 exits down the road and made it there by about 9:00. I seriously could’ve (and should’ve) kissed the ground once we got to the hotel. After about 2-3 hours of sheer panic, anxiety, and tears, my stiff body was ready for some rest. I sent up some serious thank you prayers to God that night!

December 31, 2015 - Day 4

We started our New Year’s Eve in a cold and snowy Richfield, Utah.

This day was much less eventful and noteworthy than the day before (THANK GOODNESS!). We went through Utah, Idaho, and Oregon on the 4th day of our journey. We spent our New Year’s Eve night in a weird hotel in Baker City, OR and ended up falling asleep before midnight. We were only 8 hours away from Seattle and couldn’t wait for the next day!

xoxo, L

#SmithsGoToSeattle