This past Sunday I rediscovered something about myself: I am a very determined person and I hate being trapped.

I was in Atlanta on Saturday for the taping of a PBS special. As I was checking out of my hotel Sunday morning, I learned that most flights from Atlanta to anywhere near my home in New Jersey were cancelled in anticipation of inclement weather -- even though there was no rain in Atlanta and no snow yet in the northeast. There was hope for one flight, if I could get to Charlotte, South Carolina.

So off I went...driving through rain, which just started, but knowing that I had plenty of time to catch the flight. As I pulled into the Charlotte airport at 11:30 am, I  looked at the clouds and the rain, which was getting heavier by the minute. And in that moment, I made a decision: I needed to be home.

The rain we were getting in South Carolina was expected to be a big snowstorm in the northeast. But I knew my son, Charlie, would be home from school for a snow day, and the idea of missing a day with him was torturing me. There was no way I would swap time with him for a vanilla hotel room, where I could wait out the storm for a flight.

With that, my rental car and I headed north. I-85 would become I-95. The directions were simple and I was steadied by the fact that I had seen plenty of snowstorms from my years in Nebraska. I called home for a weather update from my husband, gulped when I heard how big this system was, and kept on moving. I would just have to use common sense, good driving skills, and drive through it. 

The rain in the Carolinas was torrential, the ice in Raleigh-Durham unnerving, the sleet in Fredericksburg, VA surprising, and the snow around Washington, DC mesmerizing.

No slips, no accidents, no pile-ups...just a lot of spin-outs. I decided to be more careful than those I saw along the roadside. As I doubted my sanity for a minute, I saw a roadsign for Sanford, N.C.  That's my dad's name and I took it as a sign that I was meant to be home.

I finally arrived at 10:30 pm and the only sliding I did was pulling into my driveway. I was met by Charlie, who knew he could stay up late since school would be cancelled. I decompressed, related my travel in excrutiating detail, climbed into my own bed, and awakened to a winter wonderland. Sometimes it's a good thing to be determined and rediscover that innner strength of relying on yourself. I wouldn't trade that drive through seven states and DC, the hours I had to myself, and the sweetness of being home for anything.