The warm California sunshine misled us into wearing shorts and flip flops for the drive back to Western Washington. Bikes strapped on the back of the black Acura known as Cabo, we were proud of finishing the 30 mile Cinderella Bike Ride in Livermore, California that we had trained for. The journey home was filled with laughter and walk about breaks. In between listening to books and podcasts, we discussed everything and nothing. It was completely lovely until we couldn’t see where we were going.

The surprise blizzard began to hammer Cabo into a state of invisibility. Giant semi-trucks rushed past us, causing zero visibility and making it certain that driving further into the future was out of the question. We pulled off the freeway into a tiny town known as Kalama, Oregon, hoping the storm might subside. The waiting began as the massive snowflakes continued to fall, creating a thick blanket of white everywhere. The only hotel in sight was closed and not answering their phone. We couldn’t drive anywhere else; so we found a spot in their parking lot.

My friend crawled into the trunk from the back seat to collect blankets, jackets, and hats. She emerged like a treasure hunter with essential items. We bundled up and set an alarm to wake up every 45 minutes and run the heater so we wouldn’t freeze. When the sun came up, we were alive and well with quite a story to tell.

Have you ever spent the night in a hotel parking lot during a blizzard?