Stories Behind The Art

We could have died out there. Looking back after the bomb cyclone hit, memories played scenes of what might have been. In the end we covered 500 miles without reaching our destination, the Denver Airport. We were headed to Mom’s 95^th birthday party in Norfolk, Virginia.

In the beginning, we didn’t expect savage weather; below zero cold, seven inches of snow, and 95 mile an hour wind. Travel was complicated by road closures that pushed us from east to south. At the time, it seemed that we had no choice but to keep moving. To stop was serious trouble.

Early that morning about 25 miles from home we saw a sheriff’s car with lights running north on State Highway 13. We had not passed any trouble. The roads were wet but not slick and so we wondered why the hurry? Then we saw the car off the road, down an embankment about 50 feet. Several emergency vehicles were coming toward us with lights and sirens. Help was on its way so we pushed on never thinking that this was something we would see all too often.

Snow had stopped one hour into this trip and in just a few miles the road was dry. It wasn’t until Vail that the snow started falling again. When we were over Vail Pass we thought we were on track to make our hotel near DIA. At Silverthorn,  I-70 was shut down. Highway 9 took us to Breckenridge and on to Fairplay. Highway 285 was likewise closed. But driving south on Highway 9 would take us to 24 and onto Colorado Springs and I-25 north again.

The visions of this trip are now just remembrances. We saw a herd of elk bedded down in a snow drift waiting out the storm. In South Park, a herd of bison stood with their tails to the wind blinking away the snowflakes. A lone coyote hunted mice in deep snow. Each of these scenes flashed by but burned in memory. For the animals, life was to be lived. They were doing every day things.

At times the wind blew so hard that we could not see anything but white. We were snow blind. On the right side the shoulder dropped several hundred feet. To the left was oncoming traffic that we would not see until impact. In these moments we would just stop, put on our emergency flashers and pray. In a few seconds the wind would change direction and we would crawl forward. We were fortunate to be driving the Chevy Tahoe. It is a big vehicle with a lot of ground clearance and very good 4-wheel drive.

We still had hope. Worst case we likely could find a hotel in Colorado Springs, arise very early and still make our flight. As night began to fall it was clear that we would have to stop. The road was now covered with 6 to 8 inches of snow. Where winds had swept it bare there was nothing but slick ice. We’d hit the brakes and just glide. We passed many cars and trucks stuck when they had run off the road. Numerous wrecks closed I-25 north bound. We were not going to make DIA and our 8 A.M. flight.

When we saw the sign that said, “Welcome to Manitou Springs” Kaye started searching for hotels on her phone. Two miles ahead there was a Days Inn with a vacancy. Our navigation said it would only take us 15 minutes to travel that distance and we could stop. Safely stop. Thankfully stop.

While we were checking into Days Inn Kaye’s phone dinged. Frontier sent us a text. Our flight was cancelled. We stopped for two days and nights until the interstates opened again.

Looking back, I guess you could say we could have died. But we really weren’t doing anything that we hadn’t done a hundred times before. Like the wild animals we saw we were just living. Taking it a day at a time.

PS 1 We have re-booked a trip to see Mom in May.

PS 2 Thanks to the generosity of fellow travelers, snow plow drivers who along with first responders worked endlessly, community shelters, and many additional resources, most travelers survived this event.