SNOMG
Well hello there. We are currently snowed in and hoping our power withstands MOAR snow. So you may have heard about Raleigh/Durhams’s cluster fuck yesterday? No? here ya go:
Yup. We were a disaster….and we almost got stuck with the thousands of others. This was how fast this happened .
@12:00pm – I picked up Landon from preschool
@12:15pm – It started lightly snowing and I picked up Ollie and Kevin at SAS.
@12:30pm – Arrive home with just snow coming down.
@12:45pm – We get back in car with packed bags, food and dog to go to my in laws to anticipate power going out (they have a generator). When we pull out of our driveway, we are sliding. Uh oh.
@12:50pm – Traffic on first main road is at a crawl. Barely moving. It is hard to start after stopping.
@1:30pm – We have made it maybe 3/4 of a mile on a primary road. Google maps is bleeding.
@1:45pm – Ollie started whining. Landon asks why we are in the car so long. YAY! I see we are literally a few hundred feet from Kevin’s aunt and uncle. I call “um can we crash your house?”
So we bailed and stayed the afternoon and evening with family. WE ARE SO FREAKIN LUCKY. They had a crib (grandson Conor…remember him?), toys, beds, a dog bed and wifi :). The boys just adore them and it was actually pretty fun.
We had brought everything with us…including leftover spaghetti. We were only missing dog food. Luckily Jack had spaghetti and bread for dinner and a peanut butter bagel for breakfast. So we played, ate, visited and snoozed happily while it snowed. Mid afternoon, Uncle Jeff, Landon and K took a big thermos of coffee out to the main road for the people stuck in gridlock. It’s like a damn Hallmark movie.
The next hurdle was it was supposed to start dumping more snow at noon on Thursday. So K shoveled the tricky spots out of their hood and we packed up and hoped. We got home just in time before the next snow fall (it is still going strong now). Next up is the water freezing tonight! HOORAY. We are just crossing our fingers we don’t have any down trees because OMG WHY DO WE HAVE SO MANY GIANT TREES HERE?!
As a contrast, the people at SAS that waited until closing (1:30) had a tougher time. Some stayed there. Some got hotels. Or, like my poor boss, got stuck in a car with an infant who needed his mama. He spent hours just getting to the grocery store halfway between their house and work. He then got his first formula and bought all the warmth they could, wrapped him in his coat, and walked 2 miles home. Both boys made it home safely but HOLY FREAKING HELL PEOPLE! This mess was no joke.
Let’s see what tomorrow holds…
It was insane. My coworkers were teasing me all morning “there’s nothing out there” as I kept one eye on the Doppler saying “it’s coming” and had my snow boots beside me. I left at noon to get my son. We were mostly home when it started coming down and safely in our garage just before 1. Those last few minutes I noticed not only that it was beginning to stick, but that traffic was picking up. This was only on the backroads too from Brier Creek to my house. I called my husband 2x during that time. He finally called back a few minutes later. I told him to leave work ASAP. His company was closing at 1. He decided to wait since “everyone else was leaving” and that was all it took to get him stuck in the mess. I didn’t realize what was going on, wondering why it was taking him so long, until I saw your “bleeding maps” comment on Twitter. I kept talking him through possible detour routes during 3 phone conversations and, thankfully, he made it home safely 3 hours later.
Honestly? That is every other Thursday here in Colorado! But much less snowmageddon drama. It literally has to snow FEET before we start shutting down…
But seriously, I don’t want to make light of the seriousness everyone is dealing with right now. I hope it starts easing up and you all are safe and warm with all the food and booze you need! I will cross all crossables for for no freezing pipes and zero falling trees!
YIKES! This is like what just happened in Atlanta two weeks ago. (A friend of mine lives there and detailed the drama.) I’m also in Colorado (like Kendra, above), but the difference is we’re equipped to handle snow and ice, thank goodness. It’s no joke to be stuck, though, and that story you added at the end about your boss? HORRIFYING.
Oh yeah…this happened here in 2005…only saving grace this time was schools were out…so that was less tramatic.
I cannot even imagine. I live in upstate NY in the “lake effect storm” area so we usually get feet. But we are by far equipped for it since it’s a usual thing six months of the year. And while I have rolled my eyes in the past over the “snows an inch and everything shuts down,” when there are car accidents like that and people walking with infants to get home – I feel bad and wish I could send our local snow plow guy down to help you out. Hoping you get some sunny, 60* weather to melt that nonsense and get NC back on track!