I am going to try to get this updated a bit.... Back in Feb., I wrote about a snowstorm we had that was a bit memorable, but never posted the commentary. So this is a outdated, but thought I would send it out there nonetheless.
February 14, 2008
It was a year ago yesterday that we left Florida for our new home in Utah. What a very interesting day we had to commerate the anniversary….
So I knew that we were supposed to get hit with another snow storm (as far as I can tell, there is a snow storm everyday, so that was nothing new). I was hoping it would start later in the day so I could get Max to school and home before any major snow-on-the-road issues (I freely admit that I am not a great snow driver). It was his Valentines Day party at school and he was really, really excited about going…. So the snow held off til just before I picked him up. It was just starting then, so except for a few slides and a nervous ascent up the final hill to our house, we got home just fine. And then came the brunt of the storm. The power went off soon after we got home and that’s never a good sign. It was off for about a half hour and then flickered off and on for about another hour but then stayed on for good. I called Michael at work and told him it was starting to get bad, so he was prepared for a nightmare commute home. Oh, we had no idea….
His boss caught him on his way out so his plans to leave at 5 didn’t come to a fruition and he wasn’t able to leave until 5:45. He called me about an hour later and he wasn’t even on the freeway yet… ugh. He later found out that the freeway onramp was closed and he had to get on at a different point. An hour later, he STILL wasn’t on the freeway. Soon after that, I had the tv on and saw that they had closed the road that leads from the freeway to our neighborhood. What?? They listed a chapel that Traverse Mountain residents were to go to if they couldn’t get home. Ironically, to get to the building they listed, you needed to take the road that leads to our subdivision….. which was closed. How does that make any sense??
That was around 8:20 p.m., so I called Michael with that fun information. He had already been on the road for over 2 ½ hours, so you can imagine how he took that news. By that point he was on the freeway, but had passed the exits for his mom’s house and his sisters’ houses and there was no turning back.
To make this long story a little shorter, by the time he got to our exit, he couldn’t even exit the freeway. The police had it all blocked off. He ended up at a McDonalds a few exits down at about 9:30 or so. He eventually ended up in a hotel in Provo, south of BYU. He checked in about 11:00 pm. How’s that for a fun commute? Over 5 hours later he wasn’t even home but rather in a dive-of-a-hotel. It is now 8:35 a.m. the next morning and they still haven’t opened the road to our subdivision. Grrrr…. I’m not liking snow so much….
The last report I heard before going to bed last night was that the winds were at 70-miles-an-hour. So apparently the amount of snow wasn’t so much of a problem as the hurricane winds causing blowing snow and unbelievable snow drifts….. Miserable. It also sounded like another significant part of the problem was that people were abandoning their cars on the side of the road because they just couldn’t get anywhere (where did they go after they left their cars??) and then snow plows couldn’t get through because of all the stranded cars.
Later in the day… they finally opened the road to our subdivision at about 11:30 a.m. Soon after that, the snowplow came through. As soon as Ari goes down for her nap, I will go out to shovel while Max plays in the snow. Michael went straight to work from the flea-bag hotel he stayed in last night… He showered of course, but had to wear the same clothes he wore yesterday. The road was still closed when he needed to get back to work, so he still couldn’t get home. I haven’t even seen him since I went to bed Tuesday night. Crazy Valentines Day! Who in the world talked me into moving from sunny, warm Florida to this frozen wasteland?? My funny Valentine, maybe?
It was a year ago yesterday that we left Florida for our new home in Utah. What a very interesting day we had to commerate the anniversary….
So I knew that we were supposed to get hit with another snow storm (as far as I can tell, there is a snow storm everyday, so that was nothing new). I was hoping it would start later in the day so I could get Max to school and home before any major snow-on-the-road issues (I freely admit that I am not a great snow driver). It was his Valentines Day party at school and he was really, really excited about going…. So the snow held off til just before I picked him up. It was just starting then, so except for a few slides and a nervous ascent up the final hill to our house, we got home just fine. And then came the brunt of the storm. The power went off soon after we got home and that’s never a good sign. It was off for about a half hour and then flickered off and on for about another hour but then stayed on for good. I called Michael at work and told him it was starting to get bad, so he was prepared for a nightmare commute home. Oh, we had no idea….
His boss caught him on his way out so his plans to leave at 5 didn’t come to a fruition and he wasn’t able to leave until 5:45. He called me about an hour later and he wasn’t even on the freeway yet… ugh. He later found out that the freeway onramp was closed and he had to get on at a different point. An hour later, he STILL wasn’t on the freeway. Soon after that, I had the tv on and saw that they had closed the road that leads from the freeway to our neighborhood. What?? They listed a chapel that Traverse Mountain residents were to go to if they couldn’t get home. Ironically, to get to the building they listed, you needed to take the road that leads to our subdivision….. which was closed. How does that make any sense??
That was around 8:20 p.m., so I called Michael with that fun information. He had already been on the road for over 2 ½ hours, so you can imagine how he took that news. By that point he was on the freeway, but had passed the exits for his mom’s house and his sisters’ houses and there was no turning back.
To make this long story a little shorter, by the time he got to our exit, he couldn’t even exit the freeway. The police had it all blocked off. He ended up at a McDonalds a few exits down at about 9:30 or so. He eventually ended up in a hotel in Provo, south of BYU. He checked in about 11:00 pm. How’s that for a fun commute? Over 5 hours later he wasn’t even home but rather in a dive-of-a-hotel. It is now 8:35 a.m. the next morning and they still haven’t opened the road to our subdivision. Grrrr…. I’m not liking snow so much….
The last report I heard before going to bed last night was that the winds were at 70-miles-an-hour. So apparently the amount of snow wasn’t so much of a problem as the hurricane winds causing blowing snow and unbelievable snow drifts….. Miserable. It also sounded like another significant part of the problem was that people were abandoning their cars on the side of the road because they just couldn’t get anywhere (where did they go after they left their cars??) and then snow plows couldn’t get through because of all the stranded cars.
Later in the day… they finally opened the road to our subdivision at about 11:30 a.m. Soon after that, the snowplow came through. As soon as Ari goes down for her nap, I will go out to shovel while Max plays in the snow. Michael went straight to work from the flea-bag hotel he stayed in last night… He showered of course, but had to wear the same clothes he wore yesterday. The road was still closed when he needed to get back to work, so he still couldn’t get home. I haven’t even seen him since I went to bed Tuesday night. Crazy Valentines Day! Who in the world talked me into moving from sunny, warm Florida to this frozen wasteland?? My funny Valentine, maybe?
No comments:
Post a Comment