Well, let's start from the beginning. I went to work yesterday morning knowing that we were due to get some yucky weather but figured like every other snowy day in Northern Virginia it would be a lot of school closings and delays but major roads would be fine. Around 3:00 pm or so the sleet started falling and I thought, "hmmm...this doesn't look good." Luckily, the family I work for let me hit the road around 3:20 pm so I could get a jump start on my ride home before things got really bad. I left thinking that I would get home early and have a chance to get some stuff done around the house. As soon as I turned on to the main drag I realized traffic was not looking promising. This is a view from my car.
Things were just inching along and the snow was already piling up. Oh and just to give you a little more information I work about 18 miles from my house and my commute on a normal day takes my anywhere from 35 mins to an hour depending on traffic. So after about an hour and only making a little progress I still was hopeful that things would pick up. I was happy to be driving an all-wheel drive vehicle because so many smaller cars were skidding on the snow covered roads. I had to keep getting out and dusting off my mirrors and windows because I just couldn't keep up with how fast it was falling. Hours started to pass and I started to realized that I may never get home. I kept inching along and then traffic would just not move at all for 10 mins, 20 mins, an hour...and so on. Intersections were horrendous because people couldn't get their cars up slight hills so all you saw were cars turned sideways and people pushing each others cars to try to keep traffic moving. I kept thinking, well at this pace I'll get home by this time and then before I knew it that time had passed me by. Eventually I got within five miles of my house and Tim told me to get off the main drag because if I stayed on it I would be sleeping in my car due to a bus turned sideways, abandoned cars, and a tree that had fallen on a car that was blocking all lanes. Tim took this picture with his phone. He said there was no one in the car so they must of been okay and abandoned their car.
So about my fifth hour in the car I realized that I could no longer wait and that I was just going to have to get out of my car and pop a squat and pee in front of traffic. I put up my hoodie opened two car doors and did what I had to do. It's amazing how modesty goes out the window when you just have no other choice! I have to say it was a slightly chilly experience...especially since I was experiencing stage fright, if you know what I mean! Right after that adventure a power line exploded in front of me giving me a slight heart attack. By this point I was about 3 miles from home and was cramping and having horrible back pains. I was so worried that I was going to go into labor and I was going to have to abandon my car and walk my pregnant self to the hospital. Luckily, that was not the case. Eventually, I got to the road that was within walking distance to my house and after fighting my way to make a left turn (fighting because all traffic lights were out and people wouldn't let you through) it took me about another hour to get to my neighborhood. When I pulled into my driveway I almost kissed my house. I plugged in my dying phone in and called work and let them know that I had finally made it and called to check up on Tim. Thankfully, he got home shortly after me. He probably would have been home a bit earlier but being Tim he was busy pushing cars up hills and being his normal helpful self. When he walked in we couldn't do anything but laugh and basically just shake our heads in disbelief. What a nightmare! Then while I was making dinner at 11:00 pm, Tim decided to break the news that part of our large tree had fallen and smashed part of our fence.
Lovely! We had the same thing happen last year during a storm!
Oh well...in all of this I was just happy we made it home safely and got to sleep in our bed. It was quite and experience but now that it is over I can laugh at it and start packing a survival kit for the future to store in my car. I can now officially say that I am over winter.
Things were just inching along and the snow was already piling up. Oh and just to give you a little more information I work about 18 miles from my house and my commute on a normal day takes my anywhere from 35 mins to an hour depending on traffic. So after about an hour and only making a little progress I still was hopeful that things would pick up. I was happy to be driving an all-wheel drive vehicle because so many smaller cars were skidding on the snow covered roads. I had to keep getting out and dusting off my mirrors and windows because I just couldn't keep up with how fast it was falling. Hours started to pass and I started to realized that I may never get home. I kept inching along and then traffic would just not move at all for 10 mins, 20 mins, an hour...and so on. Intersections were horrendous because people couldn't get their cars up slight hills so all you saw were cars turned sideways and people pushing each others cars to try to keep traffic moving. I kept thinking, well at this pace I'll get home by this time and then before I knew it that time had passed me by. Eventually I got within five miles of my house and Tim told me to get off the main drag because if I stayed on it I would be sleeping in my car due to a bus turned sideways, abandoned cars, and a tree that had fallen on a car that was blocking all lanes. Tim took this picture with his phone. He said there was no one in the car so they must of been okay and abandoned their car.
Lovely! We had the same thing happen last year during a storm! 