Winter Wonderland

Wow - over a foot of snow in Richmond. Before Christmas even! We haven't had a big snow like this in ages.

Unfortunately the timing completely sucked for us.

The plan was that the kids and I were going to Wintergreen for the week. Scouter was driving separately because he had to come back to work. We left around 4:45 Fri afternoon to caravan. The snow had just started to fall. Here, that is. The further west we got, the more accumulation there already was.

The interstate was not in great shape but we didn't have too much trouble with the roads. The biggest problem was visibility with the swirling snow, and our wiper blades kept freezing. We stopped a few times to clean them. About 30 miles and an hour into the 100 mile trip, I told Scouter we were either adventurous or completely stupid and I wasn't sure which. It soon became clear...

When we got off the interstate, the real trouble started. Cars were sliding and stalling. We were stopped for a long time while a truck was moved out of the road. When we started moving again, my car had trouble getting traction and when it did, I was fishtailing. Shortly thereafter, I was stuck. Scouter and a friendly traveler helped push me out but soon I was stuck again. After repeated unsuccessful efforts to move my car forward, Scouter decided to back it down the hill and get it into a parking lot. I don't know how he did it, weaving around other stuck cars in those conditions, but he did.

About that time, a car coming the other way told us the road was closed ahead with a jack-knifed tractor trailer completely blocking the road. Scouter backed his truck down the hill to join mine in the parking lot and we went into a convenience store to assess our options. I called a couple of nearby B&Bs but not surprisingly, they were completely booked.

I was still hoping we'd make it to the Green, albeit without my car. I called them to get a status on road conditions at the top of the mountain and learned that while roads up there were being kept pretty clear, the narrow, hilly access road was reported to be in bad shape. And to get there we had to somehow get past the downed tractor trailers - which we learned there were three.

After some debate, we decided to leave my car and head back to the interstate in Scouter's. The plan was to stop in Charlottesville if road conditions were really bad. We drove a couple miles; Scouter said his car was doing great and turned around. We went a few miles in the other direction and saw nothing but tail lights, stopped traffic, and stalled cars. He changed his mind again, turned around, and we headed back east once and for all. We were able to make it all the way home, arriving at 1:30 a.m.

We felt pretty damn stupid and reckless, especially because the kids were with us on this crazy adventure.

Turns out that Wintergreen got 30 - 36" of snow by Saturday night. We talked to some people up there who said skiing conditions were amazing and the slopes weren't crowded at all as most people couldn't get there. They were only allowing four wheel drive vehicles on the mountain Saturday.

We stayed home on Saturday and then ventured out on Sunday to retrieve my car. The roads were still in pretty bad shape, even the interstate particularly heading west. Unfortunately we had to come back to Richmond again because Scouter had to work today. Now the kids and I are hanging out, waiting until we can all go up in his truck later this week.

Hopefully we'll make it this time.
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