Monday morning, we flew to Denver and picked up a rental car. After driving all afternoon (probably 4-5 hours), we arrived at the BNSF terminal in Alliance, Nebraska. We were scheduled to put on a labor relations workshop for our men/women in the field. However, before we could check into the hotel, Cyndi and Jennifer had to visit "carhenge" which I learned is the redneck version of stonehenge. Roger and I were so excited about stopping at carhenge that we couldn't even get out of the car.
After viewing this fine piece of Nebraskain art, we were able grab a quick bite to eat before checking in. Whew . . . day 1 down the drain.
We woke up early on Tuesday to make some final preparations for our presentations to the railroaders in Alliance. After putting on a 7 hour workshop, we hopped in the rental car for another 5 hour drive to Gillette, Wyoming. Along the way, however, we had to make another side trip. No offense to "carhenge," but this side trip was worth it.
I have to admit that Mt. Rushmore was a pretty good time. The bad news was, however, that we were only 1/2 way into our road trip. Therefore, we hopped back in the rental car and cruised on into Gillette, WY. We arrived tired and hungry around 10:30 or 11 p.m. Day 2 is over, but Day 3 was right around the corner.
Wednesday morning, we got up early and dazzled the railroaders at Gillette with our LR workshop. After another exhausting 7 hours, we were able to finally relax a little bit. I fell asleep early, fully dressed and with the hotel lights on.
Thursday is when things really started to go down hill. Initially, the day started off great as we visited the Cordero Rojo coal mine which is one of the mines that BNSF services. It was absolutely amazing to see how the coal is harvested and loaded onto our trains. The sheer size of the machinary was mind-boggling.
We left the mine to grab some lunch. Then we went to the the Gillette airport to catch our 4:00 pm flight home. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. Flights out of Gillette go one place--Denver--and a winter storm had Denver Airport plugged up. Our flight was cancelled, and a winter storm was approaching. We all wanted to get home as soon as possible, so we thought it would be a good idea to rent a car and head east to Rapid City, SD where we could catch an early flight (6 a.m.) on Friday morning. Thus, we rented another car and made another road trip and checked into a Rapid City hotel on Thursday evening.
Unfortunately, we did not outrun the storm. Here is a pic of our ride to the airport (in the dark at 4 a.m.). Needless to say, it was nothing short of a miracle that we managed to get to the airport.
When we arrived at the airport, the lights were off and no workers were present. A few other travelors were mulling around. The airport was closed, and it remained closed all day. No flights were allowed in or out. We attempted to get on 2 different flights with no luck. It snowed all day and wind gusts got up to 60 mph. To make matters worse, the only road in/out of the airport was shut down by the highway patrol. We were stranded. Finally, around 2 pm the wind/snow stopped and the sun light provided us with a glimpse of the 2-3 feet of snow that had blown in.
After sitting for hours at the airport, we decided to take our chances and head back to the hotel. Little did we know, we were very lucky to have made it to the airport as there were cars littering the highway.
As I write this blog, the snow and wind have let up. We are scheduled for another flight out of here at 6 a.m. Will we make it? Stay tuned. Only time will tell.
