Lessons Learned

It looked innocent enough when it first started.

Talk about counting your blessings!  I am so blessed to be sitting at the dining room table with a roaring fire in the fireplace as I tap out my story.  If you’re a regular reader, then you’re probably scratching your head wondering why I’m beginning my yarn with a genuine sentiment of gratitude.  It’s not everyday that one has, shall we say, an adventure.

For several days I had been aware of the winter storm warning coming our way in Northern California.  Not being familiar with Sierra Nevada snow, (it’s wet, not dry) I thought we would be fine.  Ok.  So I shall refine that statement even further; not being accustomed to any kind of snow storm driving (yes, I’ve driven on snowy roads AFTER the fact) and I didn’t expect to be driving in any kind of snow… well, you see where I’m going.  So many times before snow had been forecast and never happened.  I figured, at best, we’d get a light cover.  When the snow started falling a little early, it looked benign enough.  My husband, Rick, said we should go to the store and get some salt to put on the driveway.  Why we waited for the snow to start falling, I don’t know.

We took a 20 minute drive to get some water softener salt (not the correct kind *sigh*) and leisurely took our time back, making sure we stopped by the local Starbucks to get some holiday coffee to go along with our holiday snow.  The young man at the window expressed grave concerns about the storm.  You see, he lived there.  He knew.  We shrugged off his warnings and started the last leg of our trek.  Or so we thought.

Our house is located at the top of the hill in our neighborhood.  There are some steep inclines which make for rigorous walking and interesting driving in mild weather conditions, so when we rounded the familiar turn onto our street, we were a bit concerned by the amount of snow accumulation, but not overly so.  We could make it easily in our Toyota Yaris.  Mind you, it’s a great little gadabout car, but as we were to discover, it’s not meant to plow snow!  We lost all traction only halfway up the hill.  I even draped myself across the hood to hopefully give the tires more pull on the road.  Not happening.  After a moment’s thought, Rick decided it was time to go get some snow chains for the tires.

After a few phone calls, we located a shop back in Auburn, where we could purchase the chains for our car and our daughter’s car.  (She lives with us.)  She also had a Toyota Yaris*, same year, same trim, different color.  She was working in Rocklin and wasn’t going to get off until 10:30 that evening.  We thought it would be nice of us to not only get her the much needed chains but to help her when the time came to put them on.  The instructions looked easy enough.

While we dawdled at the local Barnes and Noble in Roseville, both Rick and I noticed that it was raining non-stop.  I kept checking the weather app on my phone and realized that it was snowing all this time up in Colfax where we live.  Not only that, my phone was running out power.  I was really starting to get worried.  My stomach felt tight and I was getting jittery.  Normally, we enjoy our trips to Barnes and Noble, but the time could not pass fast enough for us.  We needed to get home.  When 10:30 did arrive, we were waiting for Rachel.  Rick decided it would be better if he drove with her and I would follow in my car.

And the journey began.

It was smooth sailing for some time, and I thought, briefly, that we had been worried for nothing.  Then we hit Auburn and snow.  Real snow.  Snow so dense that the road markings are obscured and everyone is driving slower.  We were cruising about 30 mph, still too fast for our limited experience and weather conditions when Rachel’s car started sliding all over the road.  I barely had time to think to myself, Oh shit! when my car lost traction.  I very carefully applied the brakes to see what that would get me.  I know, you’re not supposed to do that, but I lucked out.  I was able to make contact with something solid and pull over to the side of the road with my hazard lights blinking and safely stop.  I looked around for Rick and Rachel and was shocked and relieved to see the car resting against a snow drift next to the center median, pointing the opposite direction.  The late night traffic was thin, so no harm had befallen anyone, just our nerves!  After a few moments, they carefully pulled up behind where I was.

Time for the chains.  As usual, when purchasing a new product that is to be used in inclement weather, practice is required.  Having purchased said items only a few hours before and NOT having practiced, the outcome was less than desired.  No chains on the tires.

We carefully pulled off the interstate at the next off-ramp and pulled over.  What to do?  I thought of my car insurance and the towing package.  They could rescue us! For the the first time since I’ve had a car (that’s been a long time, you guys) I was using the roadside assistance number.  It took about 5 minutes to get a live person, all the while, my phone’s battery is getting lower and showing amber.  And no, I didn’t have a phone charger.  I do now.  We would have to wait an hour and a half for any assistance.  I expected that.  I invited Rick and Rachel to join me in my car so we could at least keep each other company.  Besides, I always carry water and a blanket with me.

For awhile we had fun, chatting and laughing, and checking the occasional auto that drove by to see if it was the tow truck.  After about an hour, I got a phone call from my auto insurance saying they couldn’t get hold of anyone local.  At all.  It was also about this time that a helpful police officer pulled over to ask if we were okay.  From him we got the information that the interstate east of Applegate was closed to all but four-wheel, tire-chained traffic.  So no rescue was forthcoming.  He advised us to sit tight until morning.  Rick joined me in my car and Rachel got in hers and we tried to sleep.  Correction: they slept and I fidgeted.  I heard the snow plows working the streets, the chains on trucks slapping the asphalt, Rick’s snoring, and I watched the snow stop drifting down.  After awhile, a snow plow worker stopped in front of us and asked to move.  Since the the landscape had been covered in drifts, we unknowingly parked right in the middle of a road.  I asked him if he knew of the road conditions further up the interstate, and he said they had been cleared all the way up to Colfax; further than that, he didn’t know.  That was good enough for me.

We got back on the highway and slowly, ever so slowly, made our way up to Applegate where we found some opportunists – bless their hearts!  They installed our chains for an exorbitant fee and we carried on, feeling a bit more secure.  We were able to make it back to our neighborhood where the snow was deep and thick.  After plowing through the drifts for about 15 minutes, we couldn’t go any further.  We were back at our old spot that stopped us 11 hours before.  Rachel disembarked there to hike up to the house, while we backed down to the entrance, found spots that wouldn’t get in the way of a plow or driveway, and walked the mile home.  In deep snow.  Uphill.  In my new heeled boots.

Snow still on the boots! Turned out, they weren’t so bad for the walk. The snow was deeper than the water lines…my pants were drenched!

It took us 30 minutes to make the trek home.  I could see where Rachel had fallen several times and I couldn’t help but laugh.  I was disappointed that my phone was pretty much dead so I couldn’t take any pictures.  They would have been great, but Rachel would have been steaming.  When we arrived panting and warm and so tired, the doggies came out to greet us.  They had probably been confused that we would leave all the lights on and the television running and the homemade chicken straining in the sink for so long.  And why hadn’t I fed them dinner?

Surprisingly, everything kept while we were gone, so all I had to do was finish up for a wonderful warming chicken noodle soup!

I fed the dogs, took off my shoes, continued making the homemade chicken noodle soup, took a picture or two with the wrong lens (didn’t want to make the extra trip upstairs to get the wide-angle) and went to bed at 7:30 am.

Taken just as the sun was coming up. Not as cold as I would have thought.

Lessons learned:

1.  Learn how to put on snow chains in the summer!

2.  Have plenty of melting salt on hand.   We live in an area that does get snow occasionally.

3.  Continue to carry water and a blanket.  Possibly a snack or two in the glove compartment.

4.  Unless absolutely necessary, stay indoors.  No driving around!

*As soon as we could safely pull out of the driveway, Rachel took her Yaris down to the nearest Subaru dealer and traded it in on an all-wheel drive Forester!