I looked outside at noon and wondered if the weather reports were off. This morning the traffic boards on the freeway had warned of the 4pm snowstorm. But the sky was blue, the clouds were sparse, and the sun was bright.
Well, the snow started falling at 2:30pm so at 4:30pm I decided to get a headstart. By 5pm, this was how the roads looked.
Normally I'm on I-15 in ten minutes; It took me a half hour. I-80 and Bangerter were exactly like these pics. There was only one truck/trailer stuck in the snow as I drove. And as slow as the traffic was, I expected to see crashes or cars along the roadside, up ahead. Nope. Thank goodness, there were no collisions around me. Later I found out that the Utah Highway Patrol reported at least 75 accidents between 4 and 9pm.
Eventually I started to feel claustrophobic. There were hundreds of cars ahead and behind me. The snow was pelting down, my side mirrors were snowing up and I was driving 0-5 mph. I said a little prayer, giving thanks that this wasn't one of those days that I'm running on fumes because i surely would have found myself parked alongside the road with an empty tank. I laughed at my dumb self because I could totally have seen this happen to me.
Despite the heater, I felt a little chilly. I thought about how many glasses of water I drank this afternoon and panicked!!! I was trying not to think about my bladder for fear that it would start to feel full. And then WHAT?! What to do; what to do. So I started to go over my options. There were no gas stations, no alleys, not even a bush in sight. ?Options? I didn't exactly have any!!! So I cranked up the radio and started singing and head bobbing to distract my bladder.
When I finally got off Bangerter, I wasn't sure which was worse - traffic at a snail pace or snow packed roads. Finally I reached T. On the ride home, we just kept the music up, loud. I slid right past our turns not once but twice. And I watched other drivers do the same.
Our lucky stars were protecting us tonight.
After we made it home, I decided I wasn't going to experience that terror again tomorrow and announced that we would be staying home for a bad-weather day off. Tayshaun's response was "I'm going to miss my spelling test!" HUH!? If I say red, he says blue; if I say cold; he says hot....you get the picture?! As of 10pm tonight, there were no reports of school cancellations. But it was reported that the districts will be assessing the weather and roads in the morning before making a decision.
For those of you leaving your homes tomorrow, be sure to put your hats and mittens on. It's gonna be a cold one! As for me and T, we'll be snuggled up in our furry blankets drinking hot chocolate.
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