Caught In A Snow Storm And No Room At The Inn

It was 2017 and my family and I were planning to spend Christmas in Colorado with my husband, Brent’s parents. With 3 young children and all of our Christmas presents we decided to drive the 8 hour trip instead of fly. We knew that there was a chance of snow, but thought we could get in front of it. Besides, it always snows in Vail, so that was nothing new. 

We loaded the car with all our luggage and Christmas packages. Our plan was to arrive at our destination in Littleton, Colorado late on December 23rd and stay until after Christmas. All of us had snacks and water bottles, blankets and pillows, and the kids had things to do while we drove. 

The trip was mostly uneventful until we started through the Colorado canyons about 6 hours into the trip. The snow had become increasingly worse. We continued slow and steady until we came to a barricade. They had closed the road and were not allowing any vehicles to continue. They didn’t know when they would be reopening the road. It was dark and snowy. Temperatures had plummeted. The sun had gone down hours prior and we had no backup plan. We pulled off the road and onto the shoulder while we frantically started looking for another road that we might be able to backtrack to and safely take to get around this road block. No good option existed. So we began looking for hotels realizing that we were most likely going to have to spend the night in Vail. Vail is a skiing town, and has many hotels, but with the road closure and how late it was, there were no hotel vacancies, anywhere. Signs were directing people to shelters, but we were so late that there were signs overlaid on top of the shelters signs indicating that the shelters were FULL. There was literally no room at the inn. The dark reality was that we may have to spend the night on the side of the road in our car in the middle of a snow storm with a 5 month old baby, a 3 year old and a 6 year old. Luckily a local pizza shop was open and so we went there to stretch our legs, get some food, and try to figure out what we were going to do next. 

We sent messages to my husband's family and asked them if by a long shot they knew someone who lived in Vail that might be willing to let us sleep on the floor at their house. We wouldn’t take up much space, we just needed a small corner to get out of the cold for the night. One of my brother-in-laws knew someone who lived in Vail. He called them. Unfortunately they were out of town, but they knew someone who might be willing to let us stay the night. They gave us their phone number and Brent called them.

They were at a Christmas party but would be able to meet up with us in an hour or so. We met them in the parking lot of a grocery store and followed them to their home. They made sure that we had everything we needed. My 6 year old had a headache and we had not brought children’s ibuprofen with us because Brent’s dad is a pharmacist and has all that stuff if it was needed, we had not taken into account the trip to get there. So our sweet host braved the weather again and went and picked up some children’s medicine for us. She wouldn’t even let us repay her. We did not sleep on the floor. Each of us had a clean bed. 

These complete strangers turned Christmas angels saved us that night. They led us to safety and I don’t think that they will ever know how much they helped us, no matter how we try to express our gratitude. By morning, the storm had ceased, the road was opened, and we were able to continue to Grandma and Grandpa’s on Christmas eve.

Lessons Learned

1- Be prepared to spend the night in your car even if you’re not planning on it. We were rescued by incredible people that took pity on us, but what if we hadn’t been? We had enough supplies in our car that I have no doubt that we would have survived if we had to spend the night in our vehicle, but it would not have been fun, and helping 2 little kids go to the bathroom in the snow would have been an adventure for sure. I learned to pack things I had never before considered packing.

Before I was married, my roommate got caught in a snowstorm driving home from work. Cars ran out of gas and were stuck on the road in their car with no way to turn the car on to keep them warm. Even in towns and cities, it is important to be prepared to spend the night in your vehicle, just in case.

To learn about what to keep in your car as a car kit, check out this article here.

2- Carry what you might need with you even if where you’re going has it. Your journey may require it (e.g. children’s medicine).

Sincerely wishing you safe and happy travels this holiday season and always!