It took me two hours to get home from work in the winter storm last night. 8” of snow and a layer of ice on top. Couldn’t get up one hill so had to back up with traffic behind me and take several alternate routes that didn’t involve steep hills. Cars and trucks in ditches, fields and abandoned on the side of the road. Worst driving conditions I think I’ve ever experienced. I was a nervous wreck by the time I got home.
I got home and youngest daughter had her new boyfriend over. First time I met him. He lives an hour and a half away. I told him there was no way he would make it home and we’d put him up for the night on the sofa. Spoke to his mother on the phone who apologized profusely saying she should never have left him come over with the storm about to hit. She was stuck working at a hospital and the roads were shut down where they lived so she would be at the hospital all night.
About 8pm the wife showed me a facebook post from one of her friends. They were stuck in a ditch on a back country road and the road had been closed because of conditions. They had been stuck there for 4 hours, were out of gas, and were freezing. They were pleading with anyone who could come and rescue them. I told the wife I would have tried if I had the 4 wheel drive Jeep, but the daughter has it at college. I said if no one comes they’ll have to call 911.
So this morning I had to find all my cold winter gear and get the snowblower out, which was tucked behind everything in the garage. After I get everything together I find the boyfriend out at his car, no hat, no gloves, only a hoodie on, one sneaker on and trying to clear the snow off his car with the other sneaker. Seems he didn’t think to put an an ice scrape in the car. Facepalm! I told him I’ll go in and get him a coat, hat, gloves and an ice scraper. I said he should wait until I clear a way for him to get his car out of the driveway. He said he had to leave and would be able to make it out. I said ‘go for it kid… but you ain’t gonna make it.’ His tires just spun and the car wouldn’t budge. I said ‘now can I clear the driveway before you try again?’ He had no other choice. Took about 15 minutes to make one car with path with the snowblower, some cat litter under the wheels, and sent him on his way.
Not a good start for winter... which is still over a month away.