3-5-10

March 5, 2010
We have a new found respect for mother nature, especially in the mountain passes. Yesterday we went to the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City—what an impressive show of workmanship. It was a beautiful day and the boys had a blast running around in the courtyard, we were even wearing shorts. Then off we went, headed toward Tahoe City CA. After looking at the weather forecast, we decided to take Hwy 50—“the loneliest highway in America”. In a short time it was no wonder how it earned the name—we saw 3 cars in 4 hours! Cruising right along and rocking out to some tunes we were feeling pretty good until we came into some weather. At first there was just a light dusting on the road, then suddenly the road was covered in icy snow—all at the same time we started going thru a mountain pass! It got intense pretty quick—no shoulder, cliffs on one side, the mountain on the other and probably the most scary factor was no cell service. We could only proceed up the mountain. We started slipping and could feel the car struggling. We were all saying our prayers just hoping to get through. Then we saw a sign that there would be 6.5 miles of hair pin turns. Chris did an amazing job driving and we made it to the top. Although Stephanie would have been content to stay there for the night, Chris said we had to go down. By the time we made it to the campground, our stomachs were in knots and we felt very much alive.
We have been enjoying reading Where the Red Fern Grows and just like God answers Billys prayers time and time again, we have been well aware of God's presence with us on our trip, especially through these snowy mountain passes.
Now we are back on the loneliest highway with 8 more mountain passes to go! Who knew that Nevada was nothing but mountains?!?! But, the roads are clear and with our purchase of new snow chains we have a bit more confidence. Secretly, I suspect Chris is looking forward to the opportunity to use them!