Dad and I learned a great lesson on judging that first day on our trip. Steve (Steph's dad) started driving the truck before we got into the mountains of CO. We were behind them and started noticing that the truck was going slowly during most of the drive. It seemed really odd to us. We thought Steve seemed like the type to just cruise through.
As the truck started getting slower and slower, we started getting irritated. We were already behind schedule and wanted to hurry. We could understand taking the curves slower, but on flat stretches, they would sometimes be going as slow as 30 MPH in a 50-60 MPH zone. We started getting quite frustrated.
When we hit the fog and the little rain, the truck sped up a little. We started thinking that maybe Steve and Jesse were going slow through the passes to see the beautiful mountains and when the weather turned ugly, they sped up.
We got to Denver and the interstate around the city. Steve and Jesse were cruising ahead of all of us. They completely lost us for awhile. That seemed to confirm our theory that they were just sight-seeing through the mountains.
We did catch up though, because they were only going about 30-40 MPH again. On the interstate. In a 65 MPH zone. We thought that was completely insane! They sped through the city where there was more of a chance to get caught, then slowed down outside the city limits. We were floored. We griped that he was totally nuts in the way he was choosing to speed or not to speed. We were pretty angry at this point. It was getting late and he was being very poky.
We all stopped at a rest stop soon after. It was while we were there that we learned, again, why it is not good to judge.
Steve told everyone that the truck was having problems. He was practically standing on the gas pedal while going through the canyons. He said the transmission would heat up and he couldn't get any speed at all. He was able to speed up when the transmission cooled down, which is why through the fog and the flat interstate area, he was cruising better.
Dad and I were put in our place. We were so sorry to think those mean things of Steve. It was not right to do at all. It was another experience that just shows us that there is a reason Heavenly Father is the only judge. We don't know the whole story. There is no way for us to be just and fair when we don't have all the facts.
I am grateful for this reminder. I pray that I will remember this when I start to think badly of someone.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Road Trip
The kids and I just got back from a road trip to the mid-west area. We left on Sunday, May 10th and got home on Monday, May 18th. It was a total blast. I don't know if I have time right now to post about all of it, but I will start anyway.
We were helping Josh and Stephanie move from Utah to Illinois so Josh can go to school in St. Louis to become a chiropractor. From there, we went up to Wisconsin to have a memorial service for my aunt Ruth and to meet mom's family up there.
The first day was an adventure. Josh, Steph, the kids, and I all slept over at mom and dads house on Saturday the 9th so we could get up and going by 5am. We started out from the hotel Steph's parents (Steve and Joann) and brothers (Jeff and Jesse) were staying at by 5:30.
The kids and I were in the truck with mom and dad. We were following the Budget rental truck being driven by Josh with Steve, Steph's dad, with him. Joann was driving Josh and Steph's car behind us with Steph, Jeff, and Jesse. A few miles out of Green River, about 20-30 miles from the Utah-Colorado border, at around 10:30ish, I heard a loud bang. Everyone in the truck screamed a little. There was black rubber hitting the windshield and I thought we had blown a tire. The Budget truck hurriedly pulled over and we pulled over behind them.
Well, turns out the Budget truck had blown a tire, one of the 4 rear tires. Of course, the truck was loaded with all of Josh and Steph's possessions, so it weighed a ton. Josh had to call Budget to get a mechanic to come change the tire. We thought we would be there forever as it was out in the middle of no where and a Sunday morning, but the guy came relatively quickly and we were back on the road within 2 hours.
The time on the side of the road was a lot of fun actually. It was next to a hill that most everyone climbed at one point or another. Steven was the first one up and yelled down that there was a Taco Bell on the other side of the hill. My kids ran up, all excited. They were disappointed when they couldn't see one, only cows. Tyler says "Look, a Taco Bell cow!" So then that started a running joke on Taco Bell and cows.
Tyler, Annee, and dad threw around a ball for awhile. Ty has quite the arm! He was chucking that thing pretty far. He has to practice his catching though. And his aim could use some help. They had to stop because the ball kept going in the road. The last time, Josh had to dodge cars to run across and fetch it. We decided it was a little too dangerous.
Dessa was perfectly behaved. She just sat on the ground and colored her new books. Nothing seemed to faze her. It was cute.
We had a picnic on a pink tablecloth, in the dirt, beside the cars. I have some great pictures. I will try to get them posted. It was interesting making sandwiches on the tailgate of the truck while cars are whizzing past. Definitely something to remember.
The drive through Colorado was so beautiful. We chose that route so we would have something better than just flat to look at and it was so worth it. The mountains were fabulous. There were some neat tunnels we had to go through and I got to see the famous "Vale" area. Let me tell you, the architecture of those buildings in that high end ski area is amazing! There was so much to look at, which was hard because I was driving.
The weather through those mountains was crazy. We started out in all sun. We could see some storm clouds out in the distance, but nothing major. As we kept going, we saw the tops of the peaks were in fog. It looked really neat. Then, we started getting closer to the fog. Suddenly we were in the fog. It sprinkled a little, but nothing too bad. It got cold real fast though. I think it got down under 40 for awhile. The fog looked really neat, but it was spooky trying to drive in it. There were moments when we couldn't even see the truck Steve was driving in front of us.
Because of the delays, we didn't get into the motel in Colby KS until after 9pm. It was a long day, but pretty good all around.
We were helping Josh and Stephanie move from Utah to Illinois so Josh can go to school in St. Louis to become a chiropractor. From there, we went up to Wisconsin to have a memorial service for my aunt Ruth and to meet mom's family up there.
The first day was an adventure. Josh, Steph, the kids, and I all slept over at mom and dads house on Saturday the 9th so we could get up and going by 5am. We started out from the hotel Steph's parents (Steve and Joann) and brothers (Jeff and Jesse) were staying at by 5:30.
The kids and I were in the truck with mom and dad. We were following the Budget rental truck being driven by Josh with Steve, Steph's dad, with him. Joann was driving Josh and Steph's car behind us with Steph, Jeff, and Jesse. A few miles out of Green River, about 20-30 miles from the Utah-Colorado border, at around 10:30ish, I heard a loud bang. Everyone in the truck screamed a little. There was black rubber hitting the windshield and I thought we had blown a tire. The Budget truck hurriedly pulled over and we pulled over behind them.
Well, turns out the Budget truck had blown a tire, one of the 4 rear tires. Of course, the truck was loaded with all of Josh and Steph's possessions, so it weighed a ton. Josh had to call Budget to get a mechanic to come change the tire. We thought we would be there forever as it was out in the middle of no where and a Sunday morning, but the guy came relatively quickly and we were back on the road within 2 hours.
The time on the side of the road was a lot of fun actually. It was next to a hill that most everyone climbed at one point or another. Steven was the first one up and yelled down that there was a Taco Bell on the other side of the hill. My kids ran up, all excited. They were disappointed when they couldn't see one, only cows. Tyler says "Look, a Taco Bell cow!" So then that started a running joke on Taco Bell and cows.
Tyler, Annee, and dad threw around a ball for awhile. Ty has quite the arm! He was chucking that thing pretty far. He has to practice his catching though. And his aim could use some help. They had to stop because the ball kept going in the road. The last time, Josh had to dodge cars to run across and fetch it. We decided it was a little too dangerous.
Dessa was perfectly behaved. She just sat on the ground and colored her new books. Nothing seemed to faze her. It was cute.
We had a picnic on a pink tablecloth, in the dirt, beside the cars. I have some great pictures. I will try to get them posted. It was interesting making sandwiches on the tailgate of the truck while cars are whizzing past. Definitely something to remember.
The drive through Colorado was so beautiful. We chose that route so we would have something better than just flat to look at and it was so worth it. The mountains were fabulous. There were some neat tunnels we had to go through and I got to see the famous "Vale" area. Let me tell you, the architecture of those buildings in that high end ski area is amazing! There was so much to look at, which was hard because I was driving.
The weather through those mountains was crazy. We started out in all sun. We could see some storm clouds out in the distance, but nothing major. As we kept going, we saw the tops of the peaks were in fog. It looked really neat. Then, we started getting closer to the fog. Suddenly we were in the fog. It sprinkled a little, but nothing too bad. It got cold real fast though. I think it got down under 40 for awhile. The fog looked really neat, but it was spooky trying to drive in it. There were moments when we couldn't even see the truck Steve was driving in front of us.
Because of the delays, we didn't get into the motel in Colby KS until after 9pm. It was a long day, but pretty good all around.
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