Warner M.D.: MY 100th POST Happy New Year

We were invited to go to West Yellowstone in MT for New Years with friends! We gladly accepted the invite and had a blast! Although the drive up there was a bit dramatic; 200 miles into the ride we were driving up a hill outside of Pocatello, ID, I felt anxious while going up this little hill for some reason. Once we leveled off I felt we needed to pull over and pull over NOW!!!

I told Leslie and even though we were in close traffic, she pulled off the road immediately. We were not sure at that point what was wrong but I had an intense anxious feeling.

As we pulled completely off the road, the brakes and steering column froze. Leslie was a little scared because it was hard to completely brake but luckily we had pulled off the road as far as we needed to before she couldn’t steer anymore.

I felt we were very blessed to have pulled off the road when we needed to! Going 80mph and have the whole car seize in traffic… a semi was following us closely. We jumped out and noticed there was oil everywhere and not an ounce where it needed to be. A few guys pulled over and offered to tow us to the next exit. Once there Derrick and I called AAA because we were not going anywhere! I wasn’t even sure if we would be able to restart this trip. If we went home… how would we get where we were going? The only vehicle that would hold all 7 of us had broken down. AAA towed us twice to get us all home to Ogden. We decided to take two cars and start the trip over again. By the time I was loaded with enough snacks and Cherry Dr. P, it was 2am. For those that know me, I am not one to drive slowly! I set cruise control for 5 over, in normal conditions. Our friend Leslie was driving the car in front of us and I was following in her mom’s Tahoe. No joke, she was going 10 under the speed limit! AHHHH, I was going crazy! We stated sooo late; we have been up almost 24 hours!!!! I passed them and waited 45 minutes for them in Idaho Falls. West Yellowstone is only 100 miles past IF, this drive would be treacherous. I wasn’t familiar with the road so I had to follow, and Leslie drives on the cautious side; let’s just say the last 100 miles took us 4 hours!

I had to pull over and run around the Tahoe several times to wake up enough to drive again. Sadly once I got back in the Tahoe, I was back to where I had started! Derrick tried to keep me awake by reading Hunger Games, It Sincerely helped…. But you can only help a sleepy driver so much! I was relieved when we finally pulled into the place where Leslie had their time-share @ 9am!

The next few days were fun! We went swimming, read books by the fire, played games, made homemade ice cream, went on a 4 miles snowshoeing interpretive walk, and dreaded the day we had to make the trip home. At times we had to Leslie to pull over…. And one time there was 30 cares behind us that couldn’t pass! I only followed Leslie until there was a double lane road closer to IF. We made it home nearly and hour before them! Thank you Baldwin family!