Bad weather is stalking me!

Okay. I will try to convey all that I have gone through in the last few days without making it too long and boring. I am afraid, though, that it will be one of those "you had to be there" to truly appreciate all that I experienced, but here goes...

Wednesday I had to take Whitney (dance teacher who lives with me) to the Spokane airport. The weather was clear and sunny in Moses Lake with a bit of snow on the ground but no cause for concern. I was planning to drive straight there and back because I was trying to get back to watch the guy/girl drill team performance at the assembly at 2:20 because I had missed it when I was gone last week. I was driving Jeff and Becky's Tahoe because they had borrowed our Suburban because their Tahoe had broken down and Becky was trying to get to Daishan's to help out with the new baby.

So I hit snow shortly after Ritzville and it just kept getting worse and worse. Cars were off all over the place and there was about one lane open. But I just took it slow and it was fine but it took 2 1/2 hours to get to the airport (normally it takes about 1 1/2 hrs. easy in good weather). So I dropped Whitney off and immediately headed back. I had to go to the bathroom but I just wanted to head back before the weather got any worse even though I knew at that point that I would miss the drill team performance. Bummer!

So I headed back and about 20 mins. out of Spokane it was still really bad. It was snowing and visibility was terrible. Everyone was staying in one lane except for the stupid semi-trucks which would go by and blind everyone for about 10 secs. (althought it feels like forever when it happens!) I was plugging along (still having to pee) and my windshield wipers were icing up and getting worse. I had the heat blowing at the windshield full blast but it just wasn't helping. It was getting so that the wiper was not doing me much good at all. There was a Cheney exit coming up and I was going to get off and de-ice my wiper but when the exit came, I couldn't even see it so I just kept going forward. I decided to reach out the window and see if I could knock some ice off. I gave it a couple of half-hearted attempts which accomplished nothing. Then I gave myself a good talking to and said, "You can do this. You are not a wimp." And so I reached out determined to succeed and I caught hold of the wiper blade and then it broke off in my hand and I pulled the whole icy blade into the car! I screamed. It was comical and so frightening at the same time. I couldn't believe that this was happening to me. For a second I felt like I was Lucille Ball in an episode of I Love Lucy but I didn't have time to laugh because I thought I was going to die!!!

There was nothing I could do but keep going straight. There was nowhere to pull off. I just kept driving straight ahead with the other cars that were on the road and leaning way over to my right to look out of my passenger window. Finally I came to an exit and it was more visible this time even though there was about 2 feet of undisturbed snow because no one had exited there. I stopped and got out just to see if I could fix the blade or switch them. I couldn't. There was nothing at that exit for miles. The snow had lightened jsut a bit so I cleaned off my windshield as best I could and got back on the road. Let me remind you that I still had to pee!!!
So I got back on the road afraid I was going to get in an accident and now even more afraid that when they found me I would be sitting in my own urine. Yikes!

I forged ahead praying the whole way. Leaning over to my passenger side but the weather got continually better and it was only bad when the semis passed. I thought Ritzville would never come! I finally got off there and did the potty dance into the McDonalds, but I made it! The rest of the ride home was okay and I didn't need my wipers. It was harrowing. I don't know if you can feel the drama or not, but it was there!

Then...

I had to go back the next day (Thursday) to pick up Tricia (our exchange student) from the Spokane airport because she was returning from a trip to New York. Lori Baker agreed to go with me (I couldn't face that drive again by myself) and we planned to do some much needed christmas shopping before we picked Tricia up. I checked the state patrol web site when I got up. It had no warnings for Spokane at all. David said to take his Lexus and I would be fine (since the Tahoe still had the broken windshielf wiper.)

Lori and I headed off about 9:30. Tricia's flight was due in around 3. We hit the snow shortly after Ritzville. It was similar to the day before only the visibility was much better and it wasn't snowing at the time (or at least it was snowing much lighter). But just as we reached Spokane there was lots of snow on the freeway and semis were pulling over because they could not manage. That was frightening to see semis giving up! But we just kept going straight and we thought it would be best to head for the Valley Mall since it was just off the freeway and there woud be less side streets to negotiate. Well the snow got thicker and thicker and we finally reached the exit and as soon as I got off the exit and onto the street, the tires started spinning and the car got stuck. A couple of nice men helped to push us out. Two men pushed for about 15 mins. to no avail. Then a 3rd man helped and about 10 mins. later they were able to push us into a gas station that had cleared their space. The men told us we were crazy to be out on a day like today. They laughed when we said we had to get to the airport. They told us to go and settle down somewhere and get a glass of wine because we weren't going anywhere in that car.

So we told them that we just wanted to cross over the freeway and get to the mall and we would come up with Plan B. So they wished us luck and told us to try and do it in a straight shot without stopping. So we pulled out of the gas station and immediately got stuck again in the middle of the intersection. They were so nice to stay behind us and pushed us out again but it only took a few minutes that time. We basically coasted through lights and into the Valley Mall parking lot muttering, "please, please, please don't get stuck again" and we made it! This was about 1:00. So it had taken us 3 1/2 hours to get to the Valley Mall. We headed into the mall only to find out that the mall was closing due to the bad snow storm. Is that possible? Do malls really close? It's every woman's worst nightmare!

About this time we received the news that Tricia's flight had been cancelled and that she was stuck in Seattle until the next day. Lori and I did not feel safe driving around in that storm in David's car. There was a Sears right there but it had closed for the storm so I could not buy any chains. As they kicked out the few people that were in the mall, we decided to try and drive over to the hotel. It was in the same parking lot but was quite a walk in the snow. So as soon as I backed out of the parking space, we were stuck again! Then I said, let's just try to get it back in the parking space and see if someone will give us a ride to the hotel cause there were a few SUV's in the parking lot. A news van drove by and we just assumed they were off duty. They asked if we needed help and we said that we just wanted to get the car out of the way and then we were going to leave it. So the guy who was driving the van came and helped us push while the girl kept talking to someone. We didn't realize at the time that she was broadcasting the guy helping to push our car out over the news with a Skype camera. Then when he was finally able to get us back in the space, he asked if we needed any more help and we asked if they could give us a ride to the hotel (mind you, we didn't have any idea that they were working at the time.) He said sure and then they asked if they could interview us. So they waited for their turn because (again, unbeknownst to us!) the news channels were broadcasting all day from several locations about this record setting snow storm. So they asked us how the roads were and we said, "terrible" and then they talked back and forth with the news anchors and then the anchors wanted to know if we were sisters and more specifically if we were twins? We said, "no, we just spend so much time together that we're starting to look alike". Then they dropped us at the hotel and luckily we were able to get a room because there was a line of people checking in who were stranded by the storm.

It was an Oxford Suites and they gave us special snow rate of $99 for this beautiful room. It was just me and Lori and we each had our own bedroom and bathroom and TV! You never get rooms like that when you are with your family and you have 4 people sleeping on the floor!! By now it is about 3:00. We have a beatiful, warm room and we are safe and for that we were very grateful. We were also so grateful for all of the help we received from strangers. So there we are right next to the Valley Mall and it is closed. The theaters are closed. The restaurants are closed. Everything was closed. We got to watch on the news how this was the worst snow storm since 1880. They received 19.4" in a 24 hour period which beat the old record set in 1951 by 5". Can I just say that that information would have been extremely helpful when I check with the department of transportation at 6:30 that morning!!! We tried to enjoy the R&R but all we could think about was all of the things that we needed to be doing as we were just stuck there. We just stared out the window at the mall that was closed. Does anyone remember that old Mervyn's commercial where the woman has her face pressed up against the class and she is saying "Open. Open. Open." That was us!

So we got a free toothbrush and slept in our clothes. The next day started about the same but the sky got progressively clearer and it was actually blue by about noon. Reid and James Baker were so kind and drove up the Baker's suburban and switched cars with us so that we could finish our shopping and pick Tricia up at the airport. They were able to get home in David's car and we were able to navigate our way through the airport in the Suburban. We have never seen the Spokane airport so crazy. There were people everywhere and cars were lined up three deep all along the curb. Poor Tricia had to get herself a hotel in Seattle. She had quite the travel adventure on her trip but that is another story!

It was crazy but we all got home safe and sound last night. Lori and I were so disappointed in ourselves because if we were any kind of bloggers at all, we would have pictures of our adventure to share with you all. The ironic thing is that I had my camera with me but I left it in David's car at the mall. Also we didn't know when the day started, that it was going to be an adventure! We are definitely going to have to do better blog documentation of our mishaps! Last funny thing to share - when we finally did get in the mall to do our much needed christmas shopping, people kept recognizing us because they saw us on the news. How funny is that? I am so grateful that I have such a good best friend and lookalike to share these adventures with!