I went to Utah for Mother’s Day. It’s the same philosophy I follow with birthdays – if I’m out of town, it does not exist.

My plan was to return late Sunday afternoon. I took Monday off from work and planned on it being a great catch-up day. All those projects keeping me up at night with worry? I was going to cross them off my list. I planned on leaving about 5:00 Sunday evening.

But a snowstorm kept me another night.

A snowstorm? In May?

Welcome to the Rockies.

But it’s a well-known fact, spring snowstorms don’t last. They melt quickly.

So, I figured I’d stay the night but leave first thing Monday morning. I could still get home in plenty of time to get things done.

The first thing I did when I woke up the next morning is check the Wyoming road report.

 

What? Closed?

I looked out the window and saw this.

What? Closed?

I checked again.

The data didn’t change.

I lamented on Facebook that I was stuck – in all places – Utah (no offense to any Utahans. You’d feel the same way if you were in Wyoming and couldn’t get home).

I was told they were letting local traffic through.

Hmm. Wyoming’s border is approximately half-way on my trip home. I wanted to make sure this was true so that I wouldn’t get stuck on the road. I mean, I may have been in Utah still but at least I had a home to hang out in and wait.

I decided to make sure I could, in fact, make it home if I started out. So I sent an email to Wyoroad.info site. They were pretty prompt in their reply. But the response did not reassure me.

I watched an episode of Veronica Mars on television and decided I’d leave when it was over. When it ended I decided to watch one more – just to make sure.

It was 1:00.

I felt restless. “I’m going to try,” I sent a text to my family.

As soon as I climbed in my car, I received an email saying the road was open.

I did not put my cruise control on and I made very good time. Until I reached the last Sister. Thanks to construction and the road closure, traffic came to a standstill.

I did make it home finally. It is normally only takes about 2.75 hours to get back. It took me almost 3.5 hours. But I made it home.

The reason for the closure? The spring snowstorm caused so much havoc east of us that it caused a chain reaction with the closures.

The important thing is I made it home. No, I did not get my great catch-up and get ahead day. But I did manage to (barely) keep my head above water all week.

Those are just the fun types of adventures you get when you live in Wyoming.  And probably an example of how I make things more difficult than they need to be.  It’s a talent.