Looks Like We Made It...Home!

As predicted, it snowed overnight and was still snowing when it was time to leave for the campus. Chicago does a great job of plowing and salting. Even though we left early (after checking out and securing Starbucks hot chocolate) the roads were very drivable for the eleven or so miles to the Bartlett Building where we were to be by 8:45 am.

Right next to the Bartlett Building are the freshmen dorms. There is a great deal of controversy over these bright orange, purple and pink buildings in contrast to the gothic and traditional archtecture of the rest of the campus. It was simply said that they wanted something cheery for the students to come home to on a snowy day...like today. It certainly is that. With Greek houses across the street, it actually reminds me a little bit of UCBerkeley.

We met with the coaches and did a question & answer session. That was followed by breakfast with the boys before leaving for home. Brian and Kirk wanted to get on the road but were tolerant when I delayed us to change into sweats for the long ride home. I also took a muscle relaxer for my back and crawled into the back seat where I could lie down and not think about the snowy roads. While I trusted Chicago and Cincinnati to plow the roads, I didn't have as much faith in Indiana and the 500 miles of nothingness between us and home. Brian and Kirk were less tolerant with me when I insisted on multiple potty stops in the first hour of the trip. They weren't so upset with me later when we were diverted off the I-65 north of Indianpolis. Most of the trip to this point I was trying very unsuccessfully to ignore the blowing winds and snow, to not think about the ice and being grateful it was Brian driving rather than me. I HATE driving in any kind of bad weather. I'm a true Californian in this. We later learned that had we been on the interstate earlier, we might have been involved in the accident that shut the freeway down.

Southbound lanes of Interstate 65 have reopened south of Lafayette, following a four-vehicle crash this morning that killed two people. According to State Trooper Nathaniel King, a northbound Ford Focus collided with a northbound U-Haul box truck about five miles south of Indiana 38 at 11:11 a.m., sending the truck across the median, where it struck a southbound passenger car in the driver's side of the car. The southbound car then struck the rear of a southbound semi, King said. The U-Haul truck landed on its side. All the other vehicles ended right side up. Two adult women in the southbound passenger car were killed in the crash, he said. One was driving the car; the other was in the backseat.Their identities were being withheld this afternoon pending notification of relatives, King said.Two adult men in the same car suffered minor injuries. An adult female passenger in the U-Haul was slightly injured. Nobody else was injured. Everyone in all the vehicles was wearing seat belts. Road conditions on the snowy morning could have been a factor in the crash, King said.

Still about an hour from home, it started actively snowing again. This plus large trucks kicking up snow on the two lanes we had access to made for very slow and frustrating driving. Still, thanks to Brian and answers to prayers we made it safely home. I was never so happy to pull into my funny shaped driveway! Kirk's got a lot to think about now.