And so began the days of leaving things behind…

Our alarm went off at 6am. The snow storm was supposed to hit between 8am and 10am, so we planned on getting out early. Flagstaff is at over 7000 feet elevation, so our plan was to get to lower ground quickly. When the alarm went off, I threw on my gray long sleeve tee and pink sweatsuit (my official travel outfit as it had become). I offered to go the lobby and bring back coffee and breakfast, while the little one slept a bit longer. I stepped outside, and turned right around. It was snowing, hard.

I told Dan we’d have to grab breakfast on the way out and that we better start packing up. Being day 4, we had our routines and could do this much quicker. Fifteen minutes later I have a bunch of bags to take out to the car. I step outside and suddenly the snow has accumulated to a couple inches. I toss the bags in the car and now tell hubby we really need to hurry. We get everything else together, and literally carry our sleeping daughter to the car in her pjs and sleeping bag. She did not appreciate the cold and snow though and woke up in the transition, a bit unhappy.

We slid our cars through the parking lot. Dan stays with Mackenzie and I went in. I grabbed us donuts (yes, more great nutrition) and coffee, while handing in our room keys. I ask the front desk, “Do they sand or salt the roads well, or does it just get awful to drive?”. Her answer is “yes to all”. Just about 7am we pull out. An hour later, we are in a small town at a McDonalds (I swear I don’t normally eat like this) eating breakfast while our little girl runs around the play area slide beside us. There is no sign of snow. I also realize I no longer have my credit card. It was in the folder with the room key that I handed back.

With a shorter day in front of us, only about 420 miles, we enjoy a more relaxed pace. Then near the New Mexico border, the snow starts again. Vision gets very poor but the roads are clear enough to still go about 55. We just started to wonder when it was going to stop. Radio weather reports are talking about major storms in Albuquerque but not until the next day. About 2-3 hours of snow driving and it finally cleared up. We stopped at a neat travel plaza (restaurant, gas, casino, store and more) somewhere in New Mexico. I am not going to mention what lunch was, just that it was better than a gas station sandwich.

Around 3:30 we pulled into La Quinta Inn in Santa Rosa, with for the first time a reservation. Excited for a longer stop, we brought in extra toys, and our dirty laundry (yes, getting clean clothing is exciting by day 4). Mackenzie did a big floor puzzle all on her own for the first time! Then we went swimming, and Dan found local Mexican food for take-out dinner. It was a great night, and we finally felt like our trip was on track to more what we had imagined.

Road trip rule #10: Don’t count on the weather forecast being accurate down to the hour
Road trip rule #11: On shorter drive days, stay in hotels with fun amenities

Continue to Part 5 – New Mexico to Oklahoma