Not As I Had Planned...

I have been blessed with amazing friends throughout my life. Friends that I would do anything for…case in point: Janelle Griffiths.

I met Janelle my first year teaching at Sunset View Elementary back in 2005. She quickly became not only a supportive coworker; but a dear friend. We joked about being sisters, because we were so alike. To say that moving away from her was hard would be an understatement. So when the opportunity came in November to do a road trip in her honor, I jumped on the idea! The goal was to drive all day on a Friday, spend the weekend celebrating her birthday, and then returning home to my understanding husband that following Tuesday. To some people, the idea of driving over eleven hours in a car by yourself would not be too appealing, but I happen to LOVE the chance to blast all the music I want while singing at the top of my lungs.

I woke up Friday morning to a nasty rainstorm. Still not deterred from my need to surprise Janelle, I loaded up the car with way too many clothes and shoes for a weekend get-away and started my journey east. The heavy rain pelted my windshield, the winds blew their fury, but I drove on, determined to get to Utah.

Three hours into my journey led me to the Sierra Nevadas. If you could hear the tone of my voice when I say those two words—Sierra Nevadas—you would know that I do not care for these mountains! Annoyed by the slow cars surrounding me, I turned my music down, and realized for the first time that the heavy rain that had been accompanying me on my quest had turned to wet whiteness in a matter of minutes. Being accustomed to the sunshine that makes up most of the California weather, I found this new predicament quite exciting, albeit a bit nerve wracking to drive in. The flakes multiplied, turning everything into a stand still.

Flashing lights guided me to the side of the freeway, along with several other cars. At this point a man dressed in slick orange approached my window alerting me that I would need chains to cross the rest of the pass. I’ve lived in California for the past year and a half! Why would I have snow chains?

After paying for new chains and an “installation” fee, I continued on my slow way up the mountain face. Now I’ve driven in bad weather before, but I think living in East Bay has softened my tolerance. The friendly, fluffy flakes that were such a beautiful sight soon became vicious layer upon layer. I found myself sliding closer to the shoulder of the road, while callous SUVs passed by. There was a sad realization that crossed my mind during one of these occasions, where the thought came that I should turn around. The pride in me drove another 10 miles, swerving between lanes, before I “sucked it up” and turned around.

I may or may not have been crying when I called Dallas to let him know my plan had failed. I may or may not have still been crying when I got to the bottom of the mountain and couldn’t figure out how in the world to get the expensive new snow chains off of my tires. So if you can imagine me kneeling by my front tires in sweats and wet Ug boots with salty tears mixing with snowy flakes…

That’s when I heard his voice. Like a manly breath of fresh air, the hero that makes up our every day semi driver, knelt beside me with his rubber gloves and unhooked those cursed chains with a quick snap. I couldn’t help but weep in his fury beard with endless gratitude.

Later that night, as I was curled up on the couch under a blanket, I contemplated my crazy day and noticed that while my weekend did not happen as planned at least I got a good story out of it!