I thought California was supposed to be sunny!

I had a great time in Utah and was sad to leave, but excited to head to my aunt’s house in California. My drive there was absolutely insane though!!!! What should have been a 12 hour drive ended up being 16 hours!!!! I will explain!

Before that though, here’s some scenery I was able to see.

I wish those poles weren't getting in the way! I love this pic!

I got to drive by parts of the Great Salt Lake which was really cool! It was beautiful to see the bluish/green/teal colors of the water against the mountains!

Then I made it into Nevada! There were more mountains, rocks, etc…

Well, I decided to stop and use the internet, eat, and take a little cat nap. So I parked but stayed in the car the whole time. Then when I was ready to go my car WOULD NOT START!! Ahh!!!! I realized that I had left my lights on (and since I didn’t get out of the car didn’t hear the little ringing noise). Thankfully there was a couple right next to me and they had jumper cables, so the man was going to help me. But, they were long enough to reach!!! Thank goodness another man came by and had another set that would reach. I was finally able to get going but of course all frustrated and feeling silly for being irresponsible. LOL.

I needed to get gas and was afraid to turn off the car in case it wouldn’t start again, but then at the same time I was nervous to pump gas with the car running. Oh my gosh, I was a mess, haha. Anyway, I made it back on the road and all was well.

Then the closer I got to CA the mountains had more and more snow on them, and when I stopped to get gas it was snowing hard!!! AHH! Couldn’t believe it. But then shortly thereafter it stopped snowing so I thought everything would be fine.

I made it in to CA, yay!!! And while the trees and mountains were pretty with snow, I couldn’t believe that it was snowing like this in May!!

The next thing I knew semi trucks were pulling over to the side of the road and there were men in the streets directing people to pull over… I of course had NO CLUE what was going on!!!! ROlled down my window and a man came up saying, "sorry ma'am but you can only go through if you have a 4x4 or if you have chains on your tires." I'm thinking WHAT?!!!! (there was a check point up ahead an they wouldn't let you pass unless you had chains). So I told him how I was from GA, wasn't expecting this, and had no clue what to do....didn't have chains etc... He said that it was out of the ordinary for this to happen, considering it was MAY and all!!!! Said he had some chains he could sell me for 40$ and then it would be an additional $30 for him to put them on. Are you kidding me!?!? (keep in mind I'm super poor and already blew money on getting towed!)

Of course I didn't have cash. The man said I could go on up to the next town, stop at the ATM, get some chains etc, and that there would more men down the way who could put them on for me. So I finally get in to this little town that's covered in snow and pull in to the only gas station I could see. There I was in a skirt and flip flops and it's freezing and snowing outside! AHHH! Not what I was planning on as I imagined going to California! I was trying to decide what I should do... they were selling chains at the gas station but of course they were more expensive. I was afraid that if I kept going though there would be no other place to buy them and then I'd have to turn around! So I just went ahead an got them! (I should have waited because sure enough when I got to the checkpoint for someone to put them on he said he had some he could have sold me for 20$ cheaper! oh well.)

So I finally got back on the road, not knowing what to expect, and hoping that there would indeed be a person ahead that could work the chains. I really couldn't believe what was happening, haha. A snow storm in May, and there I was right in the middle of it!!! The one good thing that happened was that I didn't have to turn in my fruit at the agricultural checkpoint. I was freaking out all along the way, thanks to my friend Maia for always helping me calm down!!

A little ways ahead I stopped and this really nice man put the chains on for $30.... I was not happy about paying for that, but what's worse is it's $15 more for them to take them off!! Then I could only drive 30mph.... and I was on my way. It really was the most bizarre thing I've ever experienced. I couldn't help but laugh, and I took videos and pictures all along the way. I even called my dear friend Charlotte who I knew would appreciate my situation!

The nice man who helped me out!

I guess things could have been worse... glad that wasn't me!!

I tell you what, it was probably only 20 minutes at the most when I stopped to take off the chains! All of that for 20 minutes?!?! Oh, and I had been calling Karen (my aunt) all along the way as well to see what she thought I'd do etc... She was sweet enough to pay me back for everything I had to buy.

Another crazy thing is that it was snowing more AFTER I got the chains off.... and I even hit a patch of ice and my car went sliding, which was seriously the scariest part of my ENTIRE trip! But somehow my car got back on track. WOW!!!!

It took a while to get going at a normal speed again because it was snowing and I was going down a mountain, but I finally got out of that mess and was able to make it to Karen's house in one piece!!

I definitely said lots of prayers during those hours and felt very protected and at peace!! While it was one of the craziest things I've ever experience I'm glad it all happened. And like I always say, it's ALWAYS an adventure!!!

And to think that when all of this happened I was only 2 and a half hours away from where I was going! It turned into 5 or so hours before I finally made it there!