Traveling during the winter often is dangerous and not at all enjoyable. If one is flying, it could be that the desired flight1 will be cancelled2 or so late that connecting flights3 will be missed. When we are flying some place we try our best to avoid flying through the Denver4 airport because we have missed a number of connections5 there over the years. In fact, we were told by a pilot that Denver has about the worst weather of any U.S. airport.
Traveling by car can be dangerous and unpleasant too. The week before Christmas, we drove to Kansas to visit some of Don’s relatives. I was skeptical6 about going because the long-range weather forecasts7 were for bad weather, but Don wanted to go so badly that I agreed. On the Thursday before Christmas, the trip down to southern Kansas was fine, as was the weather. We had good visits with Don’s brother and his wife, his nephew Robb8 who lives in that area, and his nephew John from New York. John and his wife Linda came on Saturday with the idea of driving on to Kansas City9 that night to visit with Linda’s mother. By the time they got to Don’s brother’s house, the weather forecast of bad weather that day had turned out to be true and we had a heavy snow storm with a lot of wind. Of course, they were smart enough not to go on further that night, so we had a really nice visit with them.
Fortunately, during the night the snow stopped. We discovered that the windows of our car were ice covered and it took quite a while to get them cleaned off. We have metal studded snow tires10 so were able to leave all right, though the country road wasn’t in very good condition. The roads weren’t bad at all until we got north of Kansas City. The highway from there to Des Moines (over 200 miles) was icy. We saw over 50 cars that had slid off11 the highway. Some were upside down, some on their side, and still others stuck in snow drifts12 at the side of the road. I did quite a bit of the driving during that part of the trip and I clenched13 my hands so tightly around the steering wheel14 that they hurt for two days after that. Don drove on to Pella from Des Moines and we saw about 12 cars in the ditch in that 30 mile area. When we got home, we were truly thankful to be home and both of us were tired throughout Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Both days were nice. We celebrated with family and friends here, and I was thankful that we had made it home15 all right so that we could do so16.
Notes:
1. desired flight: flight that someone wants or hopes to have (很想乘的航班).
2. cancelled: eliminated or deleted from a schedule of events or activities (取消).
3. connecting flights: travels which make transfers possible at given airports, and which involve a change of aircraft involved (续程航班，旅途中转机).
4. Denver: 丹佛市，美国科罗拉多州首府
5. connections: （火车、飞机等的）衔接、联运
6. skeptical: doubtful, or having reservation about something (表示怀疑/疑惑的).
7. long range weather forecasts: the prediction of the weather for at least several days in the future (数日/一周天气预报).
8. nephew: the son of one’s brother or sister (侄儿/外甥).
9. Kansas City: 堪萨斯城
10. metal studded snow tires: car or truck tires which have very hard steel inserts into the tread of the tire (有金属钉的下雪用轮胎，轮胎花纹里嵌有很硬的钢钉). These give better traction than regular tires in conditions including ice, snow and rain.
11. slid off: left the roadway because of slick, snowy or icy conditions which made them lose control of their vehicle (滑出去).
12. snow drifts: piles of snow blown into piles or areas by the force of wind (吹积的雪堆).
13. clenched: held or closed tightly (握紧).
14. steering wheel: 方向盘
15. made it home: (idiom) succeeded in getting home when this is difficult (顺利到家).
16. we could do so: we could celebrate with family and friends here.