Big Snow Hits East Coast (For those of you who hadn't noticed)

Just in case you've been in a coma for the last few days, the Roanoke region, and most of the northeast, got dumped on by a major winter storm. The official snowfall here at Morning Wood Acres is 14 inches.

When the snow started on Friday afternoon, I was at work in Roanoke. The boss let me leave early, before she let everyone else go and finally closed for the weekend. I left at about 3:30 for the 29-mile trip, which usually takes 40 minutes. I got home at 7:00 pm.

It took an hour and a half just to find a passable route out of town. The major roads were blocked by stuck vehicles and I had to turn around and change my route twice before finding my way back to Rte. 221, which is the road up Bent Mountain (elevation, about 2500 ft.) that takes me home. The traffic moved slowly, but steadily at about 10-15 miles per hour until I got about 2/3 up the mountain. Traffic slowed to the point that that I started to lose forward momentum and stid into the left lane on a steep curve. Soon two other cars did the same. It was scary as hell.  Fortunately, there was no traffic coming down the mountain.

I waited for other cars to pass before backing up to a more level area and attempted to get back on my way, assisted by two other motorists who were pushing other cars through, even though their own vehicles were stranded at the side of the road. In all, I was stuck on the mountain for 45 minutes.

Once at the top, I slowly made my way along the 15 miles toward home. I'd been keeping on touch with Paul by cell phone the whole time and he met me at the bottom of the final hill that leads to our road.

The rest of the weekend was spent snugly inside by the fire, digging out the cars and looking in on the ducks, who have spent the last three days inside the coop with plenty of food and water.

On Sunday, we attempted the move my car out, only to have it stuck halfway in a ditch by the driveway. Rescue came in the form of our handy mechanic, Tim, who we had called to come plow the driveway. He hooked up the the chains to my car and pulled me out after several attempts, after which he cleared the driveway. I might add here that our driveway is essentially and earthen dam, holding the pond water in place. One false move to the left and "Splash!". A slip to the right and it's a 15 foot drop into the woods.

At this time, all is well and our little family is fine. The cats are going stir crazy, although our little white kitty, aptly named "Snowball", has been having a great time in the snow during her short trips outside. I think it's mostly due to the birds gathering around the food we put out for them.

Florida is looking better and better all the time.