Traversing the Rockies (Part Two)

Here is the second half of traversing the rockies story....

So, we finally get all of the luggage and staff into the six vehicles that we have about 5:30. (It took an hour). We then slowly make our way out into what is now a full blizzard and stop at the edge of the aiport to get gas. The roads, though are not bad. They have some snow on them, but overall they are not bad at all (just slow going). At this point we decide the order of the vehicles first will be Chad and I with all wheel drive, second will be Tim with now a heavy van, rear-wheel drive and chains, third will be a front-heavy front-wheel drive car carrying chains, fourth is a front-wheel drive car, fifth is a toyota tacoma with four wheel drive, and last is a full-sized chevy silverado with four wheel drive.

At this point at the gas station, we just merely want to make it out of the airport. We are afraid they will shut down the airport and force us to sleep in the airport. So, we slowly begin to make it out of the airport. We get on to I-70. In our van, we have a movie on to distract the staff as much as possible because you could tell from their looks that they were unsure of this weather, but they trusted us to make the right call. We (Chad & I) had talked with Randy our executive director earlier in the afternoon and told him that we were not going to try to be heroes, but that as soon as it was no longer safe to go on, that we would stop. However, there was a still a stress level of the unknown of what was to come that night. By that time, Chad's phone was also dead, as I had used up the battery talking with all of the drivers and reassuring them. As we set off on I-70 the snow kept getting worse. We eventually had to stop to chain up. I have never felt such winter conditions as the snow whipped us and the wind beat us down, but after forty five minutes, we were all chained up. Then, at one point it was getting really bad, but just at that point, two snow plows pulled on to the interstate and we were able to slow down and get right behind them. That was pretty amazing... We were able to follow them for a good half-hour. As soon as the snow plows got off the road we came to a stop, an exit had just passed and we were now at a dead stop for what appeared to be quite a ways up. We sat there for probably close to an hour without really moving. At this point it is about 8:00 and we know it is going to be a long night if we are to continue. We call the church in Denver and get directions to the church that would allow us to stay. Shortly after we get directions, one of our drivers calls to let us know that I-70 is closed and we all get very disappointed. (One other thing you should know is that the snow was supposed to be worse on Friday, so if we did not make it up that night, there was a good chance we would not make it up until Saturday which would leave us with only two days left in the retreat.) That driver then called us right back to tell us the highway was closed between Morrison and Idaho Springs... the ironic part about it was that we were sitting in the closed section of I-70. No wonder we were not moving anywhere!!!

Over the course of the next 6 miles (which took two hours to drive) we would drive for a minute and then be stopped again in traffic. At that point a bunch of guys would then jump out of the vans and push cars out of the way that were stuck in the snow. We soon figured out that the reason traffic was stopped was not because of accidents or because the roads were too bad, but because there were cars that only had rear-wheel drive that had tried to make it and had gotten stuck. So, we would move the cars off to the side or help them get going again, whichever they preferred and then we would drive around them and continue on our way. At this point the first three cars of our caravan got seperated from the last three. Then, the fourth car in our caravan got stuck in the snow and our other two drivers had to push him out of the snow. I then called the driver of the last car (the silverado truck) and asked him to lead for the last three cars and put the car that had just gotten stuck in the middle of the three. Shortly after that the now fifth car in our caravan (the one that had gotten stuck) his battery died. So, the drivers of trucks jumped out and jumped the car. Then, because of the delay of jumping the car there were several cars stuck in front of them. The guys from the three cars in back then spent the next forty five minutes pushing cars out of the way so that they could continue up the mountain.

At this point we (the first three cars) reached the point of I-70 that they were not allowing any cars on because there were two trucks that were jack-knifed and they were diverting traffic onto I-40 briefly before that merged again with I-70. As we headed up the off-ramp there was a volunteer policeman who was instructing us to either turn around and head back to Denver or jump onto I-40. We asked him how the roads were on I-40 and he said he had no idea, but they were bad. At this point Chad and I knew that this was the moment of truth... If we turned back now we would not get up until probably Saturday, but if we continued, it would not make sense to turn back. So, we decided to press on. All three cars made it through. Just as we got onto I-40 a car passed us comig from the other direction, we asked him how the roads were and he said they were not bad, they were passable!!! That was great news. So, we pressed on through roads that were full of snow and ice, but driveable.

The three front cars finally merged back onto I-70 and the roads were only getting worse, but they were still driveable as long as we drove slow. At this point, we could not get an updated answering machine from the department of transportation of Colorado as to the road conditions, so I called the shuttle service that would be taking one of our staff home. I asked him how the roads were and he said they were still open, but that they were bad because we were having a blizzard (I was thinking, yeah, I know that). He said the roads were bad but passable.

Right after I got off the phone with him, I got a call from one of our drivers, the one leading the final three. He said the cop that had allowed us to get onto I-40 was now saying that no one else could go through I-40 but that they would have to turn around and head back to Denver. Faced with the thought of being split up, I told them to go talk with the police officer. Five minutes later I get a call saying the police officer said the roads were really bad but would allow them to go through if they wanted to... I quickly told them that the roads were really not that bad and that they needed to take it and go... They did.... Close call number 1!!

Close call number 2 came shortly after when we were approaching a hill that it appeared many cars were stopped at. We saw an exit to our right and quickly took that exit, not knowing what type of roads would be ahead of us. We soon found out that exit saved us that night. There was another semi that was jack-knifed at the foot of a fairly good-sized hill. If we had stayed behind in that traffic, we would have been there all night.

As we progressed it was now closing in on 11:00 pm and many of our staff were up bright and early. Most of our drivers had left around 6:00 am and most of our staff that flew in were up early as well. Most had not eaten anything since lunch and were starving. We finally arrived at a truck stop around 11:30. What a relief. We were now only 1 mile from I-40, which should be well-paved because it was being constantly plowed. We stayed at that truck stop for about an hour and allowed the staff to get food and snacks and drinks and go to the bathroom and fill up on gas (several drivers were almost on E). (Worldview paid for all of their food as it had been an amazing journey of teamwork and perseverance that they had showed).

We decided to leave the car behind that had gotten stuck in the snow because we were not sure it could make it over the pass. He left his name with the clerk just in case, but was told it would be fine. From there we traversed the pass, which paled in comparison to the earlier portion of the trip.

We arrived in Winter Park around 2:30 am that morning. Only Chad, Tim & I really knew how crucial to having a great weekend that really was. There were so many things that confirmed the Lord's hands upon our trip. There were no injuries, and more than that, there was never a time we felt unsafe. It was amazing!!

The staff member that arrived at 7:15 decided against taking a shuttle that night for fear it might be stuck in the snow. He was right! Though we do not know for sure they got stuck in the snow, we know that their last run did not happen. Another close call!! He then got on the 8:30 am shuttle instead of the 10:00 as they had one more spot and got up to Winter Park around noon that day.

The staff member that had been diverted back to Seattle caught the early flight and safely landed in Denver. I paged him at the aiport when he landed and he was able to call me from a pay phone. I told him that I had tried to book a shuttle for him up to Winter Park but they were booked. I told him to try and squeeze on the next shuttle... He did and we saw him in Winter Park shortly after three thirty!!! How amazing is the Lord that he would provide that journey.

At one point during the drive I prayed to the Lord and it went something like this..."Lord I am not sure why you are allowing us to endure this storm; why you are causing us to endure this to begin this weekend of amazing fellowship, but I trust you. I trust that you have a purpose for this and that this is all in your divine will. Thank you for this storm Jesus. Please guide us safely home." After praying that prayer it was amazing the comfort that God gave me, knowing that ultimately He was in control!!

God used this experience to bond our staff together like nothing else could have. We talked about that trip for the remainder of our time in Winter Park. He showed His provision in so many ways. That story, that endurance will go down in the histroy books of Worldview Academy. And bless Angela, she waited up for us. I don't think there was ever a bed that felt so good.