The snow began shortly after 9:30 a.m. and I could see from the window it was sticking on the roads, a rarity for us. By 10:45 a.m., as I was finishing up my work, cars were spinning their wheels trying to get up the short hill to the office. One car had already been abandoned.
I got word all schools were closing at 11:30 a.m. and the buses would be running. There are nine schools packed within a 3 mile radius of my home so the announcement dumped a lot of traffic at one time along my route.
It's less than five miles down one road to get back to my neighborhood. When I pulled out of the parking lot at 11:00 a.m., traffic was already crawling. The landscape was completely white. I pulled into the line of cars and began inching toward home.
The conditions somehow impacted cell phone service. The only way to communicate was through text and it was spotty. I alerted MBray that I was not going to make it back home before the buses. She alerts me at 12:30 p.m. the buses are grounded. The only way to get CF home was to pick him up. The route between home and school is three miles, but immediately outside our neighborhood there is a mountain to climb. In just a little rain it can be dangerous. The conditions made it an impossible route so MBray couldn't make it to the school.
AJ and I were in contact with each other. He hadn't gone into his business that morning and was stuck in traffic on the opposite end of our area, making CF's school between the two of us. He starts inching his way toward the school.
At that point, I was about four miles from both home and school. Cars were already abandoned alongside and in the road making the route difficult, but I am still inching along the two lane road with a turn lane. I see the steep incline ahead of me. An 18 wheeler is stuck midway coming down. Cars are spinning and sliding at the bottom. Men from a business at the bottom of the hill are pushing cars through to try to keep traffic moving. I begin considering I too will have to abandon my car and walk home.
I creep up the loooong incline, making sure to keep my speed as slow and steady as possible and avoid touching the brake. Whew! I made it up! A sigh of relief!
And finally, at 12:45 p.m. I get in touch with CF and hear his voice! Another sigh of relief! He sounds like his usual jovial self instead of panicked as his few texts had read. He confirms the school has grounded the buses and he has to be picked up. I tell him his dad is in route and to get in touch with him.
Having made it up the longest incline on my route, there is a possibility for me to get to CF and I begin considering turning off to get to his school as I inch along. Several blocks before the turn, I believe one of the cars is stalled or abandoned in front of me so I steer into the middle turn lane. But I was mistaken and now I am stuck in the middle being forced to continue moving forward. The right turn to head to CF is just ahead and traffic cannot/will not let me in. As I reach the turn, a firetruck is blocking the right turn and I can see the route to school is impassable. Cars are strewn askew on the incline. My heart sunk. Now it's up to AJ to reach CF.
I can't move forward. Traffic is at a stand still. I am less than two miles from home and there is an alternate route if I take a left. Already in the turn lane, I head in that direction.
The road is completely covered with snow with no path of previous cars. I slowly make my way down the decline. I can see ahead to my alternate route and there are cars backed up and at a stand still just before my right turn. I make my way there and am able to get around the cars to my turn. It leads to a park near my home. As I come back to the main road, cars are backed up again, not moving, so I drive in the left hand lane and pull into the parking lot of the park.
It's 1:00 p.m. now. I watch the road leading to my neighborhood, but the cars are not moving. Some turn off the road and into the park, off-roading to get out of the mess. My alternate route doesn't get me home, but it got me relatively close to it. I grab an umbrella (I guess I haven't mentioned it's been snowing the whole time), lock up my car, and begin walking the field to the road in my business attire, thankful for the wool pants I decided to wear that day and wishing I had gloves. I make it to the road and weave my way among the cars, some of which are abandoned.
By 1:30 p.m., two and a half hours from when I started down a five mile route, I am home! MBray has a hot sandwich and coffee waiting for me.
AJ is still inching his way to CF and makes it to the school at 2:30 p.m. He picks up a few other kids and drops them off at their neighborhoods as he makes his way here. At 3:45 p.m. AJ gets as close as he can to the mountain outside our neighborhood. CF will have to walk the rest of the way alone. (He didn't want me to meet him.) By 4:00 p.m. he's home!
Whew! What a day! All this to say, I am filled with gratefulness for the Lord's provision, protection, and discernment. If I had started my new job, I would have never made it home and would be stranded as thousands of others are. While in route, I didn't skid once. No cars skidded toward me. I started with a full tank of gas. He directed my route giving me discernment when and where to leave my car in a safe place. Though I was in business attire, I was warm and able to walk in the slick conditions in heels once I left my car. And AJ came through and got CF close enough to get here.
Our little family of three are all home, safe and sound. (Happy sigh!)
Below are pictures of what the roads were like that I walked. It was a mess. It's still a mess out there. Tomorrow the thaw begins.
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