January 28, 2009


We had missed the ice storm in both Memphis and Arkansas so when we heard that it was still in Oklahoma we didn’t think anything of it. When I talked to my parents in Arkansas about the weather Dad told us to keep an eye on the road because an ice storm was sweeping across the country. You were right Dad; you always are when it comes to weather.

We drove through the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and only saw the remnants of an ice storm. The trees were filled with ice but the sun was shining and the road was bare. This was not the case when we reached Oklahoma. About 30 miles in Oklahoma on I-40 we began to see patches of ice on the road and the first (of many) trucks in the ditch. Things were not looking good and we really began to worry when we had to slow down to 10-15mph. We both looked at each other and knew that we weren’t going to make it to Oklahoma City so it was better to get off the road.

Emily started looking for the nearest motels in the area. I should note that we were in a very desolate area of Oklahoma so there weren’t many options. The closest one was a few miles away called The Lake Eufaula Inn; they had both rooms and power. There were plenty of motels 20 miles away but we didn't think we'd make it that far. The tractor-trailers were still speeding past us so at this point we would take anything.

We push on only to come to the exit ramp that is covered in ice so we make a quick and stressful decision to push on to the next exit 4 miles away, it was a long 4 miles but we made it. I decided to try the surface roads instead of getting back on the interstate. I hoped they would be a little bit better. We find a road that runs parallel to the interstate called Highway 150. It's four miles back to the motel along a small country road covered in snow with only a few houses along the way. But snow is better than ice and it had tire tracks on it so I knew it would be safer than trying to drive on fresh snow. We plug along at 10 miles an hour and it takes us a half hour but we survived! It turns out no locals have heard of “Highway 150”, they refer to it as “that dirt road”, dirt road or not I was happy for it.

The minute we enter the room I blast the heat just in case we lose power during the night. We grab more blankets from the car and settle in see if we can find anything about conditions in Oklahoma. There are only a few stations, not local news and no Internet. I hope we’re not stuck here for a few days. We decide that we’ll wait until morning to decide on our next move. Hopefully everything will look better with the sun shining.

Not much has changed the next morning. We can see the Interstate from our hotel and it looks open after being closed due to an accident earlier. Heading south is out of the question as there are no major roads to Dallas, TX so we go with our gut and think about giving it another day to clear up.

We meet two guys our age in the lobby with the same predicament, they are heading east from LA to Pittsburgh and also are stranded in the middle of nowhere. We tell them it's only bad about 15-20 miles east and then perfectly fine but they've already paid for their room so they are going to stay for the day. And that’s when the power goes out. I give the power 15-20 minutes to come back on and we check the room to see if there is still heat. But we know the power is not coming on soon. I've been through this before; I'm not sitting in a motel room with no heat and lights. I tell our small group that no power will get old as soon as the sun goes down and that I'd rather be in the car with heat. I also hope we can make a little ground and find someplace further down the road with power. Emily and I decide to pack up and move out as quickly as possible so we can travel in the daylight. As we leave the parking lot, we see the two guys packing their car; they've gotten a refund and are headed out as well.

We travel along I-40 west, the going is slow but it is warm and sunny and the ice is melting. There are parts of the road that are bare and the bridges are no longer ice rinks so we travel about 10 miles before we come to a complete stand still. Traffic has stopped, we move about 5 miles an hour for about 4 miles in what turns out to be the worst part. Within an hour we are out of it and the roads are bare. We call ahead to Oklahoma City: Do they have power? Is the weather bad? They assure us that they are having no problems so we push on.

We make it to Oklahoma City in time for a late lunch at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse (at this point all we have had is a few Little Debbie’s the hotel provided) which is very good but no where near as good as Peter Luger's. We also make a quick stop at the Oklahoma City Memorial. The museum had been closed this week due to flooding but we were able to see the Memorial as well as listen to a cell phone audio tour they have. I was happy that we were able to stop in Oklahoma City as we originally thought we would skip it due to the weather.

We left Oklahoma City a little before 5 and decided to gain some ground and push on into New Mexico. There is no way we are spending the night in Texas. We push on to Tucumcari, New Mexico and find some cheap lodging at a Quality Inn. We've made it out of the ice and into the desert!

P.S. Dad-please don’t say I told you so.








This concludes our broadcast day.

Dave