I had flat out just had enough of life in Las Vegas, Nevada, and set out to go back to Colorado after about eight hard years there. It was far more my pace in the Rockies and I absolutely loved the outdoor life there too.

I loaded up everything I owned in a rolling tin can everyone typically calls a Uhaul. I attached a tow dolly to it with my SUV and set out for the open road with now two kids, two cats, and an iguana for a 990-mile drive back home to Colorado. To a home, I fully appreciated now and couldn't wait to get back to and thrive within.

I had been through a nasty divorce and was exhausted in every way ready to be back home, and with my boys. That was the childhood I wanted to provide them.

Roots over light shows. Snow, rather than excruciating heat. Better schooling and to grow up in a more self-sustainable way of life and have a better upbringing in a safer environment.

Spiritually, emotionally, and mentally; my soul needed a rest.

The bullshit never seemed to cease in Vegas all the way down to my animals too. The veterinarian had told me two weeks before I planned on leaving that I had to put my dog down due to an irregular heart valve issue and her seizures worsening. He said that the chances of her being able to make the drive would be slim to none. Altitude is a huge factor in her oxygen levels as well.

I loved her so much and this dog was like my canine bestest' friend in the whole wide world. She taught my youngest son to walk and never showed one bit of malice toward anyone, that was welcome in my home. I trusted that dog with my life and I hated that I couldn't take her with us on our new adventure, I also felt far less safe knowing she wasn't going to be going with us.

I was terrified to do this drive but there was no way to change the events that were already in motion.

I knew we needed a better life and there was no way we would find that in Nevada.

As I loaded all of my stuff into the Uhaul I didn't want to leave my mom, I was so utterly scared to do this by myself. I knew the road was not a safe place for a woman, I had already learned that from my trials in driving back from Kansas in my earlier years.

I never forgot that night and always stayed on my toes while on the open roads. I dreaded this drive and loathed having to do it alone with kids, towing my truck, as well as a zoo, all in tow.

I packed mace and properly placed a few other safety items that I could reach without my sons harming themselves either nearby me.

I knew this drive was going to be one of the most trying things I have ever done in my life, but I welcomed it naively.

That, and praying for the dependability of good diapers and well-placed eateries.

I had a ton of snacks packed, juice as well as water, extra hot hands and warm water socks for the iguana, even cat stress coats, cat calmer and planned a route that allowed me to give them some time out of their kennels safely, kids included in that.

So when we started out driving, it wasn't too bad actually.

I mean, I got lost in Laughlin. Which is the opposite direction I was heading after going over the Hoover Dam and I was only sixty miles from my starting point.

Plus, we had already stopped at one golden arches' because an hour drive created a hunger in those two kids or a last-ditch effort in staying.

I wasn't having a good time on the road yet and definitely was showing my best rookie road warrior moves, for sure.

I finally got into a groove with things and knew when the kids needed to stop and was making decent time - it's not like I was in a rush anyway I could have taken a week to get there if I needed to. It was just so stressful on the kids and animals, I tried to make it fun for everyone and not a miserable new start to plague their future memories.

The next night we were in Flagstaff after making some historical stops as we made our way through Arizona. I found a family-style restaurant to eat at with the kids and we stayed on the quiet side of a Walmart parking lot to sleep for a few hours before I pushed through into New Mexico as they slept.

When we woke up as we were getting ready things really started to hit the kids that we were moving and away from grandma.

Seeing the Grand Canyon was cool, but not without grandma kind of cool.

It was heartbreaking how many tears were shed in that parking lot that day.

We all just had to cry it out.

I decided to take them to a park and let them play a little bit and blow off some steam. It wasn't hot that day rather a bit overcast and muggy, like right before a light rain shower.

All of these distractions were eating at our travel time. It was so hard on all of us, they were crying and in terrible moods. Tired of being in the truck, hated not having all their toys and that there was no T.V.

I was losing them and fast, so I felt this pressure to drive safely but to get there as soon as possible.

I made my way through to Grants, New Mexico, we ate and cleaned up, I got them in warm jammies and bought a DVD player at the truck stop, (best move ever).

Obviously, this was before they were commonplace in the back of headrests.

The boys were content and then asleep in no time and I was making time to get to our new home. It was about 9 p.m. or so on the 3rd night when I got to Sante Fe and I was so irritated because I had planned on taking the boys to a museum and buying a painting, but couldn't because they were closed at night.

There was also no way the boys were going to let me drag another day onto this trip, even if it was something I wanted to do more than anything. On we went.

Or not. I wanted to do this!

I mean the only thing I had planned to do for myself, I couldn't because circumstances put us out there at night and not on the schedule I had so meticulously planned. Lame.

So I figured I'd get a room, stay the night, go to the museum in the morning and keep heading northbound. I was getting pretty tired anyway. I found a motel just down from the museum and asked if they were pet-friendly getting my hopes up for some rejuvenation.

She said "absolutely no cats". Great. I said, "well, I can leave them in their carriers in the vehicle and make sure they are safe and warm, and pottied but would need to leash walk them; I need a place to lay my head down before we haul on, please. I'll pay extra".

She replied, "that's illegal leaving them in the car, I think you should find somewhere else to stay". Zero heart, and the worst customer service to date.

Wow, just wow I thought, she really climbed under my skin and I was so mad I decided to just drive on and get home.

Screw New Mexico, I thought to myself. I filled up on some coffee and candy, I think I even got some of those nasty energy drinks as well as some stay-awake goodies. What I forgot was to fill up with gas out of my frustration. So I ended up some quick miles down the road at this random place named "Rainbow.. .. ." something or other.

This gas station place meets a truck stop that had a bodega-style casino in it was rather off in the middle of nowhere on a New Mexico highway, weird. Seedy types selling bootleg DVDs in the middle of the night. I was pretty sure the only rainbows around here were the flags, not fairytales and if you saw a rainbow, chances are you'd gotten dosed waiting in line at the register.

Although this place had a native culture museum and some very alluring aspects of the natural native American culture, not Chinese-made Kachina dolls.

I did wander and look at some things with the boys in tow. Once legs were stretched and eyes were amused it was time to set off into the night once again.

Which, that place was quite unique but dirty and felt seedy only because of the people who were hanging around watching everyone so late. It was not a comfortable place to be alone, let alone with two kids using a restroom in the middle of someplace we had never been or would come back to. This is where I feel like I bought trouble I didn't pay for or even notice I had intended to purchase, follow me.

Needless to say, I was paying attention while here, or as much as I possibly could. But obviously not enough in retrospect.

I was tired and out of it with my responsibilities that anyone could have made a bad decision and I could've been swallowed very quickly without even knowing while I was "suppose" to be on my toes. I loaded up and headed back northbound, the kids fell asleep quickly again and I stayed busy driving.

There are things now I look back on that I would've changed. I would've paid attention too, and things I would see now if this happened. How vulnerable we were was hard for me to grasp also.

Red flags.

One, sleeping properly.

Before I knew it, it was close to 3 a.m or after. and I was just plain exhausted, thinking unclearly, red eyes so heavy they burned and suffering from brain-fried zombie syndrome had definitely set into motion.

I had to sleep and knew it was dangerous to keep going if my eyes sank. I could feel it and knew.

I called my parents and they said there was a small town ahead where I could park in the truck stop parking lot and get a few hours of sleep.

I thought it was perfect and I would tuck out to stay safe. Once sunlight cracked my oldest would be awake with the sun so he could keep a lookout while I finished another hour of sleep and we could end this drive to a new life. I saw the exit that matched the exit number my parents said it was a small town called Wagon Mound.

I saw the lights exiting off the highway, some street lights, and some residential street lights going down the main frontage street. Going far off down the way into country life living.

This was definitely a country stop for people who knew it existed and wanted a quiet place to disappear for the night. I saw a truck stop sign that was unlit and knew this wasn't going to be open for a couple of hours. There were a few stray semi-trucks along the side road and in the large mud parking lot south of the "truck stop". No one was moving around and it seemed as if we all had the same idea, sleep.

I remember finding a corner spot in the lot that faced the highway off-ramp and on-ramp to the northbound route I was taking. I had a wide viewing point and no one behind me. I felt safe enough to pass out and rest. So we were as safe as we could be, children asleep, pets asleep. I had no one near us and locked everything up, I was bedding down to get some sleep and everything seemed like a new "mobile normal".

I was relieved this trip was almost over.

I was asleep in no time at all and completely dead to the world confined in our rolling tin can. I had no idea how long I was even asleep but I woke up for some reason with my heart beating so fast and I felt panicked to my core.

I may have gotten about 15 minutes of sleep before I woke scared.

I immediately sat up and assessed the whole situation. I thought 'what the hell' because nothing was going on and no one around us at all.

No one was awake or even moving. I again thought to myself, 'I am being a spook, go back to sleep and calm down. Stay composed Allie'.

I had kids looking to me for guidance and safety, I needed to be sleeping and keeping my wits about me, not wasting my time staring out an empty window expecting what doesn't exist to come knocking at 5 a.m.

I couldn't shake that feeling, there was a reason in my core being I felt like something was wrong, or unsafe. I just felt like I needed to pay attention.

Tired or not.

After 20 minutes of this, I convinced myself I just needed some sleep and went to lie down in my nook. I saw a set of headlights coming in off of the off-ramp as I fluffed my pillow back down.

It was no big deal, except, he was coming in fast and it was out of place enough to watch.

This stop seemed like a ghost town only other truckers knew of and utilized. No one else pulled in or off here since I did.

So I watched him come into the lot and as you could expect with my luck; he parked directly across from me facing me about 400 yards out and I thought "how convenient, turn off your damn lights man".

He turned off his lights for a few moments and then flicked them back on, as his brights.

"What the hell?" I thought.

I was getting a bit annoyed but was just ready to go back to sleep while the kids were still sleeping.

This guy just seemed like an unnecessary intrusion in my bubble and I was losing my patience. I thought about turning my lights back onto him but opted to be passive.

He started moving closer to me; I saw he was slowly creeping up next to us and started to pull up on the right side of the Uhaul, my stomach was in knots, I kept thinking "what am I going to do, the kids are asleep and right there?"

I reached over the pile of kids and blankets, rolled the window down about three inches and he pulled up with our passenger windows side by side with his rolled down all the way.

'Why did he pull up to my passenger side' I thought to myself.

I remember saying very sternly to him "can I help you"?

He responded to me smiling "do you need any attention tonight"?

I couldn't believe he even had the gall and actually said that to me.

I replied "No, you better just go. My husband is going to wake up and he wouldn't appreciate your offer too much at all".

The look on this man's face was an intense blank look from the two dark holes that replaced his eyes.

He looked strung out, cheeks sunken in and dark circles around his eyes. I could see he was wearing what seemed to be a black leather jacket over a dirty shirt with disheveled brown hair and his vehicle was very unkempt.

The following words he spoke scared me right down my spine.

"There ain't no man in there, I know that much sweetheart", he replied to me with such a challenging calmness in his tone.

And the look of, "nice try" in his eye.

I was mad as hell he called my bluff so I said to him "you get the fuck on before I shoot your sorry ass".

He looked me dead in my eyes and said "I also know you ain't got no gun either".

I yelled 'fuck you, get the fuck out of here I'm calling the cops" as I went to find my cell phone completely panicked at this point but didn't want to take my eyes off of him.

By then my oldest sat up from under the pile of blankets and coats asking what was going on looking dazed and scared.

As soon as that man saw my son in the cab sitting up, he was mad; I could see it in his eyes my sons were in his way.

A fire of rage blanketed his expression and I could see he was angry as if lying was the straw that broke the camel's back.

He hit the gas and lit up his tires while doing a donut around my Uhaul and the tow dolly I was towing with my Envoy on it and everything we ever owned. He went around us a second time and I thought is there any way we are all going to get out of this alive? Who does this to a woman, or children in the wee hours of dusk?

I was terrified, why in the holy hell is some strange man talking to me like that and kicking up rocks and dust all over my SUV... Is this a dream? what the hell is going on? This can not really be happening, can it?

After he circled me twice and dug up a dust wall he drove back across the lot and sat in front of me again, this time about two hundred feet in front of me and with his brights on lighting up my entire cabin. I scrambled to get my sons in their buckles and car seats as fast as I possibly could to get them safe.

I said "to hell with it" and tired or not I put the keys in the ignition and put her in drive as fast as possible. I flew toward the onramp heading northbound, I needed my cell phone, and now.

"Where the hell is it?" Fuck.

He was right behind me and if you have driven a Uhaul you know that speed on an on-ramp is not its forte, for sure.

Speed expectations in general with a rented moving vehicle are quite ostentatious expectations anyway.

I was screwed and attached to a whale.

This man could have rear-ended and hit me at any point without my control of anything he was so close to us.

I felt completely threatened and unsafe. He was taunting me, backing in and falling behind to speed up and get close. I was in serious trouble.

I guess you would have to have seen the look in his eyes like I did but I can tell you that man wanted nothing but trouble and the fact I lied to him, twice. Had set him clean off.

I kept on the gas and making progress forward but he was right behind me no matter how slow I was going, or fast. I had my son find my cell phone and immediately called my parents telling them what was going on. I was in such a panic and I remember my mom going from sleeping to instant freak-out mode. I had to tell her to calm down because the two of us panicking were going to get all of us killed.

My stepfather was always amazing under pressure as a former drill sergeant in the Army. He told me to make my way without stopping for any reason to the next town with a police station in it.

To call back and get the information of where to stop and that they'd call authorities.

I remember saying "I love you" to my parents and when they said "I love you" back they both had this fear in their voices that scared me even more.

That's what I was doing one way or another, I will wreck this damn tin can keeping my sons' safe. We hung up and they called state patrol for New Mexico and told them what was going on with us or what they could from all the fast rambling I spewed in a hurry to get advice on what to do.

I had my son dial grandma back and put her on speaker, I was heading to a town called Springer to the police station there. According to the signs I had about 16 miles to go and he was hot on my trail going a whopping 75 MPH.

The eeriest thing was he never flashed his lights, he never touched us, he never fell further back than fifteen feet from our rear end, he never tried to pass us or anything - just stayed right behind me.

It felt like being stalked in a desert.

Nowhere to run or hide, just the coy dance between prey and predator.

Like I was the prey and he knew I would wear out and tire, leaving him exactly what he wanted on a platter. I was no different than a zebra in the savannah being stalked by a crocodile without even seeing it coming; until the iron jaws were wrapped around my throat, clenching.

I came into town speeding and pulled right up to the police station parking lot with no concern for proper parking. I don't even recall when I lost his Cherokee on the road behind me but being in the police station parking lot was sweet relief for me. I was too scared to even get out of the Uhaul, I started honking and just called the police station number my mom gave me to tell them what was going on.

They sent a younger deputy out to us and I told him everything, he said that the state patrol contacted them and told them my parents had called in and they had the description of the vehicle and plate number I gave.

They offered for me and the boys to come inside but I was so damn scared I refused to get out of the vehicle even feeling like I was going to throw up. He let me park it on the side of the building where I was out of the way and they could keep an eye on us as well.