Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Biggest Blessing...





Yesterday I blogged about our Christmas Blessings, but I wanted to share the biggest blessing in it's own post. This one reminded me of how precious my family is and taught me some lessons. Our biggest blessing was....drumroll please.....

Spending the night in a hotel - We were actually stuck on the highway during the Texas/Oklahoma Blizzard on Christmas Eve. There were some scary moments when we thought that we'd be spending a freezing night stuck in the snow on the highway. Through the hard work and generous spirit of my husband and many strangers, we were able to get ourselves and many others to a hotel to spend the night. HM was actually directing traffic at one point to get all of us between a snow plow and two trucks that were stuck and almost blocking the entire highway (see photo above). When we finally arrived, it had taken us 6 hours to drive what normally takes an hour. The hotel had purchased sandwich supplies knowing that no one would be able to get to a store or restaurant for food. I was so thankful to be warm and safe that night and learned some seriously valuable lessons.

#1. My car needs additional emergency supplies. While we had crackers, water, & blankets...I sure was wishing for a camping shovel (to dig us out of the snow) and additional food.

#2. I have never taken snow/ice driving seriously enough. I am usually optimistic and say, "Oh, it's just a little snow...we'll be able to make it!" From now on, I'll take winter driving much more seriously, to be sure!

What do you keep in your car for emergencies? How do you store it there and keep it out of the way?

6 comments:

debbieo said...

I just popped in to say Hi. I am fiom Oklahoma too but it appears I am from the total opposite end. I live way out in the panhandle. If you are not familare with it it is beyond Enid. When my husband worked in Tulsa the news talked about western olkahoma as Enid. Seemed like they didnt even know we are out here.
Anyway, I enjoyed what I got to read of your blog.
take care.
debbieo

debbieo said...

I would love for you to be an affiliate. I need your email address so I can send you the info you requested.

Wishful Acres Farm said...

Hi!
Up here on the IL/WI border those who do a lot of driving in the snow usually keep a kit with blankets, flashlight, extra clothes, a shovel, and some people keep kitty litter (you can use this as traction under your tires if you get stuck). In lightweight cars, we put weight into the trunk (like bags of softener salt) to help weigh the back end down so it doesn't fishtail around as much on ice & snow. Usually all of this stuff just gets tossed into the truck, not much organization there... :-)
My mom is a rural mail carrier and she has studded tires put on her jeep in the winter. She also now has 4-wheel drive, which has gotten her out of more than one ditch this winter. Farmers usually help pull her out of ditches by attaching chains to her bumper.
I think we're just used to it and take these things for granted.

Nancy said...

I dedicated an entire post to that - this is what we have in both vehicles:
http://ragingbearranch.blogspot.com/2008/12/building-your-emergency-roadside-kit.html
You may think it is alot of stuff but at one time or another it has come in handy for us and if packed right does not take up alot of space.

debbieo said...

My eamil is pinkmonkeysoap at yahoo dot com
I am excited for your to become an afiliate.
debbieo

The Hills said...

I've just been thinking about this with the move to Montana and all. Right now we just have basics for fixing the car, but we're gonna have to put together a serious cold weather vehicle kit for up there!!