Tales of the Cursed Traveler... (part one)

I am cursed. Any time I travel, STRANGE things happen. Places that were plagued with drought are suddenly riddled with thunderstorms and tornadoes. A blizzard hits West Texas where the day before it was 72 degrees. Traffic jams of epic proportions have us stuck in traffic miles long. Like I said, I'm cursed.

Case in point. We have been planning a Thanksgiving trip to Lubbock to see Travis's family. We never get to see them because, let's face it. Traveling anywhere with two children is NOT a pleasant experience. But, we were going to suck it up and strap those bad boys in the car no matter how much they cried and drive into the sunset. Or the sunrise. Whatever.

Texas isn't exactly a winter wonderland. I think in all the years I've lived or visited here during the winter months, there have been three or four occasions over the holidays where we have had snow. Two of them have happened while driving to Lubbock. (I'll save that wonderful first snow experience for another post.) The forecast said a chance of snow, and I just knew that we were going to be snowed on. Now, flurries I can handle. But as we drove down I-20, freakin HUGE flakes were coming at us. I couldn't see where I was going. We pulled over and stopped at Walmart (the only place open on Thanksgiving Day) and the locals were saying, "Well I be. Ain't never snowed like this in Abilene b'fore. Wonder what in tarnation's goin on here."

I'll tell you what's going on. I, the Cursed Traveler, have come bringing blizzards and ice. Travis's dad said that the doppler radar showed a huge snow storm right over Abilene. Nowhere else. Just there. RIGHT WHERE WE WERE. Of course.

We ended up having to stay the night in Abilene and had our Thanksgiving Dinner at Whataburger. Fancy. It was LITERALLY the ONLY place open. Besides 7 Eleven. And I didn't feel like having cheesy stuffed breadsticks and a Slurpee for Dinner. We'll save that for Christmas.