After a week’s visit with my brother and his wife in New Mexico, we were heading back to Kansas. Our plan was to go as far as Liberal, spend the night and on to Manhattan, our home, the next day. We noted snow on the sides of the roads east of Albuquerque but soon ran into a dry area. Clear sailing!

This was before cellphones and a GPS in your car, so I kept an open map on my lap. About 4 in the afternoon, I looked at the map and said to my husband, “Looks like we’re about an hour out of Liberal.” I looked up and noticed big, white flakes floating from the sky.

Ken switched on the windshield wipers, and we journeyed on. By the time we reached the south edge of Liberal, the snow was coming down furiously, piling up on the road.

“We’d better find a hotel before they fill up,” Ken said as he drove through the southwest Kansas town.

Most of the hotels were local, not franchise kinds like Holiday Inn and Ramada, which were the big names at the time. Ken drove, and I kept watching, eliminating this one and that one—too old, too small, too rundown. I felt like Goldilocks! Finally, a larger place came into view. The sign out front said it had a restaurant and a bar as well as rooms. We passed by, and I quickly told Ken to turn around and go back.

He pulled into the parking lot and rushed into the snowstorm to the office, letting a whoosh of cold air into the car. It was March, and it was not unusual for snow to hit Kansas. I sat in the car thinking we’d be able to head home by morning.

Soon, Ken slipped and slid his way to the car. “Got the last room,” he told me, “They’ve got a nice restaurant and a bar. We’re all set for tonight.”

It happened that March Madness NCAA basketball games would be televised that weekend. We’d be warm and dry and have some entertainment, too. Manhattan was only about five hours away, so we could be home the next day to watch more games, rooting for all the Big 12 teams.

As we ate dinner, we heard from locals that the storm would be continuing all night and into Saturday. We watched games that evening, slept well, and headed to the restaurant for breakfast the next morning. It was still snowing, and the waitress told us all roads leading out of town were closed. They were all two-lane roads, so it looked like we’d be staying another night.

We headed to the office to extend our stay. We could see the snow still coming down with cars in the parking lot totally covered, no snowplow in sight.

After watching more March Madness games all day, we headed down the hall to the restaurant. A man told us that the snow was to stop soon, but all roads leading out of town were closed. He sighed and said, “Looks like we might not get out of here until Monday.” One more night in the motel.

On Sunday morning, after cleaning off the car, we were able to get through the main streets in town, so off we went to the Lutheran church. The pastor explained to the small congregation that the organist could not get into town, so he’d preach and play the hymns. The organ sat in the back of the church, so the pastor seemed like a one-man band, filling both positions. When it was time for a hymn, he zoomed back to the organ, pastoral robes flying. Back and forth he went.

After the service, we were invited to two couple’s homes for dinner, but we declined as we still had games to watch that afternoon. I’ve never forgotten the kindness of those people, however.

Later in the day, we were told we could head for home Monday morning. After spending three nights at the motel, we were eager to be on our way. We checked out the next morning, thanking our host profusely for a fine March Madness blizzard experience.

Cleaning the car of snow once again, we loaded our luggage and headed to Highway 54. Once there, we had a surprise. The two-lane road was solid ice! Ken drove slowly and cautiously, both of us hoping we’d reach dry pavement soon. No such luck! We traversed this ice pond all the way to I-70, which was plowed and dry.

We breathed a sigh of relief as we drove to Manhattan in the beautiful Flint Hills. It had snowed there, too, but not nearly as much as in Liberal.

We have talked often of the days we spent in Liberal in a blizzard. How fortunate we had been to find a hotel with everything we needed, an entertaining church service, and the warmth of the people we met. Even March Madness basketball offered a unique experience that year. Nothing like being safe and dry, well fed, and entertained in a Kansas blizzard.