I left the office a little after 4pm today because I saw frozen snow pellets coming down outside. Before I could even get out of the parking garage, there was a layer of snow pellets on the ground. I jammed my Jeep into 4-wheel drive thinking that this is going to be an interesting 4-mile commute home.
It wasn't until I was a half mile down the road that I realized how treacherous this was going to be. By then, the windshield wipers were on full force, bouncing the little pellets off of the windshield.
Take it easy, I'm not in any hurry. I came down to the bottom of a steep hill, and even driving slowly in 4-wheel drive, I slid a little. Oh, I so don't want to deal with this. I looked back in the rearview mirror to see a minivan sliding towards me and then stop between my car and the car in the lane next to me. Whew, that was a close one! I about had my backend taken out.
Inching my way, I made the turn onto the next road. At least I seem to be the only one heading this direction. The road was completely white, and I could feel the snow crunching under me. A couple of more turns and I'll be home.
Crap, I don't have cell coverage. I wonder where Andrea is? I can't get a hold of Rick to warn him.
One more big hill...I mustered up all of my mental strength to tackle this one. Stay steady, 10 mph...slowly but surely. I was so delighted to get to the top of the hill. Home was in sight.
As soon as I got inside, I called Andrea from my house phone. She had just left the office too. Since my house is closer, I told her to come over to my place. She had the same commute ahead of her, that I had just endured, and stuck on the first downward hill. Not having a 4wd car, and not being a confident winter driver, she was beside herself.
I wanted to help her, but there wasn't anything I could do at that point. I tried to call Rick, but I couldn't get through to his cell phone. I sent an email hoping he would get it and know that I was home safe.
Twenty minutes passed and I called Andrea to see where she was at. Scooting along, she was making progress, but still had a long ways to go. Not only that, but everyone else had made it to the roads now, and so she was having to maneuver around them.
I kept calling every so often, hoping she was closer. For a moment, I considered walking the mile and a half to where she was, so that she would have some company trying to get her car off of the main road. She told me to stay put. "It's too dangerous for pedestrians."
She had left the office at 4:30p, and at 5:55p, I heard a knock at the door and there was a snowflake-covered Andrea. So happy to see her and know that she was out of that mess. She had parked her car at the bottom of the huge hill into my neighborhood and walked the rest of the way.
I finally got a phone call from Rick. He had no idea how bad the weather was outside. He said he was going to stay behind and get some work done. He finally left around 6:45p and is still stuck in the traffic mess.
Hope everyone was able to avoid the nightmare commute.
1 comment:
It was t r e a c h e r o u s! I left the house at 3:15 and the pellets were just beginning. Went to Fred Meyer and when I emerged at 4pm, a snow storm had started and it was gridlock everywhere.It took me 50 minutes to go only 3 or 4 miles and I even knew I was ahead of the game. With a baby and three pups on board, I was more than a little nervous, but happy I had my big boat to cruise around in.
Stay safe and warm!
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