7:00am: Get up, get ready and finish packing.
8:00am: Check the road conditions! Green all the way baby!
8:22am: Leave the Apt and gas up the car at the Holiday!
8:34am: Leave Missoula (Taking the Hwy 200 route).
8:50am: See a truck in the ditch. Make eye contact with old man digging truck out. He appears to be telling us to "SLOW DOWN!" Get slowed down and see all the cars on the side of the road. Try to make it to the side of the road and basically skate across the NEWLY formed ice...thanks to the rain! Finally get stopped facing the wrong way on the side of Hwy 200. There's a truck stuck in the ditch in front of us and numerous other cars pulled over on both sides of the highway.
8:51am: CRAZY lady wearing wedge sandal heels (Come on people...who in the hell wears sandals with a heel to drive on the highway in the middle of winter?!) comes slipping and sliding up to the car and informs us...almost proudly...that the corner is solid ice and that she hit a truck. She says to wait for the sander that SHOULD be there soon!
8:52am: The wait starts. Lady in sandal heels continues attempting to walk down the highway!
8:54am: Lady in sandal heels dives into the ditch to avoid getting hit by a truck that is sliding on the road! SERIOUSLY! Lol! She had to crawl back to the road because she couldn't walk...I'm gonna bet it was the heels that prevented the walking! :)
9:10am: Jess has a mini freak out because she's so angry she has to wait in the car. Nicole informs her that if she (Jess) moves the car, she (Nicole) is getting out of the car!
9:23am: Highway patrolman arrives and tries to stop his car in the middle of the highway. His car stops moving forward, but because of the grade of the road the car slides to the side and onto the shoulder. Lots of people are out of their cars and playing on the road....Call me crazy, but this sounds like a terrible idea!
9:47am: (This is a general guess...we're not super sure on time here...but Nicole had most def stopped knitting) - Enter Redneck, White Trash Pick-up with chains on the front tires and a flatbed trailer complete with snowmobile in tow. The truck passes us. Then the trailer begins to jack knife sliding within inches of the passenger side of the car. Somehow the truck pulls a 180 on the highway without hitting anyone. It comes to a rest to the side of the road.
9:57am: Snow plow FINALLY comes and plows the ice off the road...However doesn't put any sand down. Wait longer in the car for the plow to come back and put some sand down.
10:00am or so: Begin playing games on the cell phones (that have no service). Dot game on the Blackberry...Jess dominates! Trivial Pursuit on the regular cell phone...Jess wins again, but she's more practiced in areas of trivia ;) !!
10:26am: Iron Horse tow truck arrives and has to put chains on before he can tow anyone!
All the HP Officers that have shown up...Seriously how many do you need for a patch of ice?!?!
10:39am: Snow plow comes back and plows a path back to Missoula and lays down sand! YAY!
10:45am: Say a quick prayer and try to turn around and head back!
11:ooam: Arrive back in Bonner. Check the road conditions. Use the bathroom. Green through Helena. Call and alert our waiting families in GF of the situation and the new plan.
11:07am: Head to Helena.
11:16am: The sun's out!
11:29am: Perfect roads!
11:53am: Garrison/Helena Exit.
12:34pm: Arrive in Helena.
12:43pm: McDonalds pit-stop. Switch drivers! We saw this sign and thought it was hysterical! LOL
12:53pm: Leave Helena. BLUE SKIES!
1:01pm: Sleeping Giant.
1:02pm: Take ya for a ride on my Big Green Tractor! HeHe! :)
1:55pm: We make it to Great Falls!
Our Adventure back to Missoula was not nearly as eventful! We did dominate the LA Times crossword that appeared in the Trib! Ya...we're nerds! LOL!
Ciao!
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