It was Christmas 1979. My husband, Paul, and I were headed to his family's home in northern Alberta, Canada. Coming from the West coast of the U S, I had not prepared for the brutal winter weather of the North. I didn't own a heavy winter jacket or gloves. In the Northwest, we don't have a need for four distinct seasons in our wardrobes.
We decided to drive straight through the night and arrive two days before Christmas. That was the plan. It would be nice to spend Christmas with family -- my family was on the other side of the country and traveling there was not feasible.
Paul preferred to drive at night with fewer cars on the road. I could curl up in the passenger seat and sleep. His secret was to eat salted sunflower seeds to keep awake. Paul has been a maniac behind the wheel as long as I have known him - some 45 years. He is an excellent driver, but Speeding is his middle name. Although we hoped the roads would be fine, we never expected to run into a blizzard or......car trouble. But we did - both. We were driving through the Rocky Mountains; it was bitter cold and snowing hard.
I woke up the sound of the tires on gravel as Paul pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. "I have no idea what is wrong but I have to go get help or we will freeze to death." This was the days before cell phones and at 2 A.M. you couldn't stick your thumb out and hitchhike.
We decided to drive straight through the night and arrive two days before Christmas. That was the plan. It would be nice to spend Christmas with family -- my family was on the other side of the country and traveling there was not feasible.
Paul preferred to drive at night with fewer cars on the road. I could curl up in the passenger seat and sleep. His secret was to eat salted sunflower seeds to keep awake. Paul has been a maniac behind the wheel as long as I have known him - some 45 years. He is an excellent driver, but Speeding is his middle name. Although we hoped the roads would be fine, we never expected to run into a blizzard or......car trouble. But we did - both. We were driving through the Rocky Mountains; it was bitter cold and snowing hard.
I woke up the sound of the tires on gravel as Paul pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. "I have no idea what is wrong but I have to go get help or we will freeze to death." This was the days before cell phones and at 2 A.M. you couldn't stick your thumb out and hitchhike.