Ten on Tuesday: 10 Most Terrifying Trips I've Taken

Thanks, Bridgett.

1. The horrible storm on the way back from the first year that we went to Pitchfork. Pete and I trucked up to Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival in July 2007. It was great, it was fun, it was so freaking hot. And now I'm sad, because I looked through the happy notions archives to link back to an original post, but there is none. I know what I'm doing this afternoon...

After Pitchfork ended on Sunday, we stuck around until Wednesday to see The Decemberists play an orchestra show in Millennium Park. It was amazing. But it ended probably around 9:30/10 PM and we had planned to drive back to St. Louis after the show...meaning we would be getting home around 2:30/3 AM. Which isn't bad - we have made that drive before - but there was a horrible, horrible storm. Like, there were flashes of green lightening in the fields of Illinois. We called Pete's mom to look at the radar for us, and tell us how much longer we would be stuck in the storm. Pete was driving, and even his feathers were a little ruffled - so we pulled over to a Burger King in Joliet (which is 45 minutes away from downtown Chicago) to "wait it out". Running from the car to the front door, we became SOAKED. My Coach wallet was ruined (it was okay, though - I only spent $19 on it at an outlet store) because an orange ticket I had inside of it bled all over the purple leather, because of the heavy rain.

We got some fries and milkshakes at BK. Then the power went out. And the whole place was quiet. It was like no one else was around. I was convinced zombies were about to eat me. But then we got back into the car and drove. The storm lasted probably another hour or so before it stopped raining. And then we had horrible, horrible fog the rest of the way home.

I was never so happy to return to SLU.





[the two pictures above are from the drive home. I was terrified, but, as Pete says, "not too scared to take pictures of yourself." (it's true)

2. Driving down to Houston for my cousin's wedding in April 2006. The ride started off gorgeous - Missouri's hillsides aren't too boring. It was a gorgeous spring day. But once we crossed the Oklahoma border, the skies turned dark grey (at like 4 PM) and a huge storm started. The sky had green splotches in it and there were less and less cars on the road, because they were all pulling off, since THERE WAS A TORNADO. My parents have an Acura (honking SUV thing) and it's pretty much a tank. But the car was being tossed around like nobody's business. Emme and I both had on our headphones with our heads down between our legs, because we were both so terrified to look outside. Eventually, mom, Emme and I convinced dad to pull over and check into a hotel. It was somewhere outside of Tulsa. And as soon as we checked into the room, dad switched on the weather channel and we found out, lo and behold, the worst was over.

Of course.

3. My family took a trip out West a few summers ago - I believe it was 2003. We flew into Albuquerque, rented a car, and drove all over - Grand Canyon, Taos, Phoenix, Santa Fe...we went everywhere. It was beautiful.

My favorite part was the Grand Canyon, I think (although I also loved Santa Fe). But getting there was pretty scary. We were probably about 50 miles away from the park when dad said that the no gas sign clicked on. I mean, it's okay - we're close to the park, there has to be a gas station, right? Right.

Or not. No gas station. So we're basically in the middle of nowhere. With very little gas. It's getting dark. Ahhh! But we made it. We got to our hotel (in the park) and got gas in the morning.

4. On a boat. Last summer, at Rend Lake with the Wissingers. I'm not a big boat person as it is. In summer 2007, I went on a boat at Rend Lake and LOVED it! It was wonderful. But last summer (2009) I was not into it at all. The waves were choppy and even though Jeffy was going relatively slow, for a boat, I felt sick to my stomach. And then it started to rain and I felt like I was going to pass out. Luckily, Jeffy went back to shore. Just as we docked it began to pour.

I didn't go back out at all, even though it got really nice and sunny again.

5. Smoky Mountains. I was maybe eight or nine. It was raining. We saw three or four trucks take advantage of the "run-off" areas in the mountains. I asked dad what the trucks were doing - after 100 yards or so, the trail stops. Where were they going? He told me what they were for, and I realized at that time that we, as humans, cannot always control our vehicles. And it was pouring rain and the slopes and turns were a little scary.

Hmm. That's all I can think of. Only 5. Guess I haven't had too many horrible experiences. However, we'll be driving to California and back this summer. I'm sure that'll be good.