The Big Trip!!!!!!

The big drive from Zimmerman, Minnesota to Catoosa, Oklahoma. What a journey it was! Not only did we have 4 small children on a normally 12-hour drive, but we had a 24-foot U-Haul truck with every single one of our family's possessions! We cleaned our Zimmerman house (only with the help of friends/family) all day on the 27th, then got on the road that night in hopes of beating the snowstorm.

Well, that obviously didn't happen. Things were great all the way through Minnesota, but halfway through Iowa the snowstorm found us and things started to get scary. Not only was the weather rough, but we had deep-cleaned our entire house and packed everything in the truck that day and drove through the night, so we were all really tired. Thankfully, the kids slept through that part of it. (And I had my first energy drink-all natural of course!) The road got better, but not until we were into Missouri.

What a difference when we got into Oklahoma! The sun started shining VERY brightly and there wasn't snow to be found anywhere! (That definitely makes it all worthwhile!)

It was like two different worlds! You can tell from this picture all the damage done to trees that is very noticeable as soon as you get into Oklahoma. The effects of that early December ice storm is still visible everywhere we go, even with the pile of branches still in our front yard! The state has actually had to hire an outside company to remove thousands of tons of brush from Oklahoma.

Once we got here, the next task was to unload the UHaul at the bottom of our driveway since it's too steep to get it to the top of it. And thanks to Randy and Pete's careful packing skills, we had to be careful when we opened the truck! The kids are really enjoying this new adventure! Gabie was a little unsure the first day while he watched everything be hauled into the new house.

But now that he's been into the new whirlpool tub, he's definitely comfortable!

And the sun has shone everyday that we've been here too! The forecast for Saturday is 65 degrees! Check out the next posts for our field trips to everything in Oklahoma! Thank you, everyone, for your prayers for our safe trip. We know that no matter what the weather/road conditions, our family was being protected and covered by prayers!