A few days ago my fiance and I left the state so I could introduce him to my extended family. I was quite nervous about this. All things went well. We left my grandma's house on Sunday around 2:30 pm so we could arrive back at my place by 8:00 pm before the snow storm arrived. We lost the race against the snow storm.
My fiance drove. When I woke up from my nap, we were in VA. My fiance is driving in sleet. I could hear the slush on the road. We started talking, and the next thing I know it is snowing and we passed a car on the side of the road. Apparently if the speed limit is 70, vehicles think they can drive 75- 80 MPH during inclement weather. About 20 miles into the snow storm, we are traveling along around 30 MPH. We pass accident after accident. I am sitting in the passenger seat praying for our safety. My fiance was doing a good job driving, but the other people felt the need to race.
We are driving on North I-85. Have you ever driven on I-85? There really isn't much along the interstate. After driving in inclement weather for about 80 miles, passing several severe & minor accidents, and watching the snow come down harder & quicker, I grabbed my smart phone and decided to look for a hotel.
I'm not fluent in smartphone. My fiance is a technical genius. I've seen him use his phone to do all sorts of stuff. I knew that my smartphone had the capability of finding a hotel close to us, even though I had no idea where we were; I just had to figure out how to use it! I'm silently praying.
I figured out how to turn on GPS, and find hotels near my location. I find a Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn 15 miles away. As I clicked on all the right buttons to call the hotels to find vacancies, I touched one wrong button and lost everything. Once again I found Hampton Inn 15 miles away. I pulled up the address and set our Magellan Roadmate to the new address. Timing was perfect. In .02 miles we had to take exit 53. Now for the frightening part; the right lane is completely covered in snow and there is no evidence of an exit.
I called the hotel a few times and there was no answer. I then realized this was a different Hampton Inn than I called earlier; the area code was different. My fiance vocalized his fear that the hotel could have a power outage. I was thinking "please don't kill me for sending us down a wrong path." I continued to pray as we drove 14.5 miles down a country road. Each time a vehicle passed us and we didn't slide into each other or run into the ditch just inches away from us, I thanked God for His protection. I continued to pray for hotel vacancy and our safety.
FINALLY! We arrive at Hampton Inn, but it is packed. Praise the Lord, there was a Sleep Inn connected to it. We went to Sleep Inn. As we stood in line with the dozen other travelers looking for a place to stay, my brilliant fiance booked our room on his smartphone and we got the last king suite available. Now, the ironic part of this is the king suite cost $20- $50 less than the double room available at the other hotels I called (taking advantage of the situation).
We then had the privilege of walking through puddles and snow covered roads to the closest fast food restaurants to pick up our dinner. Once we arrived back at the hotel, we checked to see what else was around us. Come to find out, the Holy Spirit guided me to the only hotels in the area AND it was near 3 places within walking distant where we could eat. The other hotels I called, we had already passed. Although it wasn't a great evening, the Lord kept us safe, provided us a more affordable hotel room, and provided us a way to eat dinner! All in all this was a good experience for me as I continue to full rely on God and listen to the Holy Spirit.
This is what I call "a dear diary moment."
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