Last week my family was in for a visit. We had a great time with them, fishing, shooting, eating, hanging out and just being family. I had gone on Sunday the 19th with just the kids for a day trip to celebrate my father’s 89th birthday. Then we went out as a family on the 22nd and stayed until the 23rd. But before I could go on the 19th, our jeep started leaking some power steering fluid. It was a crazy time, Paul’s truck had just stopped working for us and now we were having jeep problems. Plus I had to make the long drive to my parents house, it takes us about 1 1/2 hours to get there. Yes, having a leak before heading out there is NOT a good thing. Thankfully the Lord took care of us, as always, and the truck is working and the leak in the jeep isn’t bad.
But it’s so had to explain to people how the drive out there can be. It’s not city driving, it’s driving through the middle of the desert. There are no gas stations or places of business to stop if someone has problems. You loose your cell phone range sometimes, and whether it’s in the middle of the summer or middle of the winter, it can be dangerous to cross if you don’t have enough gas. So when we go out there, and anyone crossing the desert does this, we make sure we have water, some snacks, a full tank of gas and no car problems! The drive is a full 1 1/2 hours of driving by yourself sometimes (there’s not always a lot of traffic on the road) at 65mph, non stop. It really is a long, tiring drive, and nothing I can really explain without a person actually experiencing it. But I decided on our trip out there this past week to take some pictures so you can see how desolate it truly is. Usually you can see a lot farther, but we have wild fires all around us so there is a constant, smokey haze all the time. So what you see isn’t clouds or fog, it’s the smokey haze.
This is looking east.
This is looking west.
This is looking south.
And though there is a stop sign there and you think it’s a road, it really isn’t. It’s a gated road that only utility trucks go on, out in the middle of the desert, when checking on utility issues.
So now you know why even having the littlest of car problems can stop us from visiting my parents. Even seeing these pictures doesn’t truly do it justice. But picture driving a road just like this for 65 miles, nothing much ever changing, diving in the middle of nowhere. It truly is a tiring drive, but one we are so use to now, it’s not that big of a deal. Well, as long as we have snacks in the car, a full tank of gas and no leaks. 😉
3 thoughts on “Driving to my parents house”
I don’t envy you the drive, but when you can see, the view must be spectacular. I am three hours from my parents, and I usually take a bus down to see them. Rolling hills, farms and city is what we see–when I’m not looking at my kindle or doing some cross-stitch.
Hi JoAnn,
Thanks for stopping by earlier! I’m trying to visit as I can, but as you can tell there’s little breathing room in my days yet. I’m glad to be here now, though. 🙂
Yep, desert-dwellers are much like snow dwellers. Stock the car, fill the tank, and say a prayer. I’ve lived in both climates, and they’re very similar that way. I’m so glad your vehicle situation levelled off so that you could go visit your folks. Sounds like you had a nice time. 🙂
Have a lovely week!
Shani xxx
Wow, that looks like the prairies! I like Shani’s comment about travelling in the snow and the desert. 🙂
So glad you could actually make it, though!
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