For Christmas we are visiting my parents in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It’s a podunk town of about 25,000 in the middle of the Nebraska panhandle. (Yes, Nebraska has a panhandle. Who knew?)

Getting out here was a bit of an adventure. If you’ve ever driven through Wyoming on I-80, you know it can be very windy. (As my dad says, Kansas sucks and Wyoming blows, and Nebraska is caught in between.) Luckily it didn’t snow as we were driving, but the snow that had fallen a few days ago was blowing across the road and causing frequent white-outs. But we made it in one piece and even made pretty good time.

We got a few inches last night, but mostly it’s just been blowing around here. We were going to have the missionaries over for dinner tonight, but when my dad went to get them, he didn’t even make it out of the driveway (they have about a quarter mile to the road) before getting stuck in a foot of drifted snow. Luckily we were able to pull him out with my brother’s four-wheel-drive Blazer, but we had to call the missionaries and tell them that we wouldn’t be able to get them tonight.

Then my dad decided to take the Blazer over to his work and get their plow to clear the driveway. I wasn’t so sure this was a great idea. I mean, four wheel drive is great and all, but up against a foot of snow for a quarter mile? You can guess what happened next. Luckily one of their neighbors has a tractor (their neighbors being farmers and all), so he came over to clear the driveway and get the Blazer out.

These are the joys of Christmas in the country, I guess. I think I’ll stick with the city.