Temps were in the low 20's and the higher we climbed the lower they would drop.   

Fog was so thick it was like putting cotton balls over your eyes and trying to look through them.

The roads were not iced over, but very slushy.  

Winter was just setting in over these mountains and it was not mine and Dewayne's typical kind of weather to drive in.

Conversation was minimal and very tight.  

We had made a choice on this particular leg of our journey to venture over the Big Horn mountains.

So, we set out and expected to see Big Horn sheep or possible other wild-life.  

NOT!!!!

We had looked at the weather and it just said mostly cloudy and cold.   

Well, it did not fail in that particular aspect.  But, it never said anything about how to handle our nerves and imaginations due to inclement weather settling in.

Ha.  I mean come on!  Don't we all have a little built-in radar telling us how to adjust our mindset for certain things??

Well, our radar didn't do too well in this particular case.  My imaginations were getting the best of me. I was not helping Dewaynes' already un-nerved state.  He is the calm, in control type of person and he was doing his best to be so in this condition. He handled it well in spite of all my gasps and squeals.

I would look at the road in front of us and envision a huge bison or elk walking out in front of our car and not being able to stop.

(It's not like we were doing above 25 MPH or anything!)

Winter is one of my favorite times of the year....maybe it's because all I really ever get to enjoy of it are all of the beautiful photos I see online that other people get to share and I can just see myself rolling around in all that snow, hugging those big, beautiful evergreens.....not to mention the colorful glow of Christmas lights that would be shining down on the snow at night and creating that beautiful glow.

I have to confess, this particular situation had me re-thinking my "dreamland".  Ha.  It was nerve-racking for this little southern Texas gal.....who usually, on our Texas "cold" days, starts out in the morning with a sweater or light jacket and by noon is shedding layers for a light t-shirt and almost sandal weather. 

In case you are wondering what we were driving, we didn't have a big SUV to handle all of this.......we had our little rental car.....(Economy sized marshmallow) and some "all weather" tires to get us safely over this HUGE span of mountains.

I can honestly say that if you are not accustomed to this sort of weather, you may want to go some place and practice at least once a year.

I've had my complaints about all of the South Texas folks that can't seem to get through a rain storm on the highway without slowing down to 25MPH on the road or driving through a water puddle that is deceiving and then flooding their vehicle out.....simply because they don't use caution.  (I mean sometimes when it rains here it's like all of South Texas comes to a standstill on the highways!).  

My suggestion is to all of those people that need a lesson in driving in rough weather would be to venture to some place that has REAL weather conditions and rethink how to practice caution.  Ha.

Well, we made it through the Fog/Snow ....after 3.5 hours.  

Yes, if you are wondering how long we had to endure that???.....3.5 hours of almost "white-out".

And if you are wondering if winter is still one of my favorite times of the year???

Yes.

I've had time to calm down and access the fact that we made it through a storm. 

Storms are tough.  We never know what to expect. Even when we feel "prepared".  We never really are.  

The one consolation we have is that we WILL get through the storm...even if we have to slow down, pull over and breathe a minute, stop allowing our minds to take us down a road of imaginations that don't exist and remain calm.

Over and out,

Mrs. Rogers