"Hint, Hint"

Good Morning All;
We are home. Have been since late Tuesday. And it was an awful drive through "Snowstorm Doug"...

Our 'trip', (and what a road trip it was!), began nice enough-
And I was quite happy to see this sign.
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Oh yeah, Baby!
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I-94 was not bad at all; especially given the fact that Minneapolis had been under a storm warning for 2 days already- We were quite effectively snowed in, in that hotel.

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Smooth sailing on I-94 eastbound
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Almost as soon as I'd thought "well this isn't so bad" the road became downright crappy.
Worse than anything were the underpasses.
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Each and every one of them on our way home had this splotch of ice underneath. 
I slid the 1st few times thinking wth? I have put many, many, miles on driving in winter weather, and have never, ever, seen this phenomenon before.

Every time we went under the overpass, the car/truck slid a bit. Just enough to throw Casey's and my blood pressure up a few notches, and live on adrenalin.
I remain unimpressed.
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Of a sudden, our 4 lane highway turned to 2 lanes...
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Kinda...
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The 2 lane road came and went. When worst comes to worst, you can always drive on the graveled shoulder of the road. (If you can find it without going in the ditch). hehehe

For some reason, with God as our witness, ALL of the darn snowplows were heading west.
Had they been eastbound, then sooner or later one would catch up to them. It didn't happen.
Oh and yes, our road would have been plowed! duh.
Casey and I remarked on their absence more than once.

In some counties there was salt on the shoulders. In others, there was sand spread around between the lanes.
I hadn't wanted to stop.  Drives like this leave me with a very bad case of tunnel vision. I know I want to be home. I know the roads are very bad, and deteriorating with each mile, and no matter how much pain I am in.
I go slow, like the turtle, and thus far it has always paid off. Reasonable speed being the only practical way to drive, adding many silent prayers.
Casey's insides, and Punks bladder (and my own), would not allow for me to drive straight through.

We stopped to feed the girl, and to get gas twice- (That gasoline, just to keep as much weight in the car as was possible). It makes no never mind to me if I have 4~wheel drive. 
* I see LOTS of 4~wheel drives in the ditch and in the snowbanks in Winter. They simply cannot function on ice either.

Put snow over that ice, and you have problems.

Then add more snow...

And finally, a county snowplow in front of us!

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Add lots of wind, and a snowplow in the left lane...
Whenever he hit those drifts it was a complete whiteout in front of me for about 10 precious seconds. We were completely blinded, even staying back the requisite 200 feet.
Since there was NO passing him safely, he remained in front of me until he used an exit lane...
So much for asking for a snowplow.

Highway 29 became this 2 tracking road. I knew the 2nd lane was there, somewhere, I had some room for error..
Some cars passed me. Many 18 wheelers too, yet most remained happily behind me.
Why is it that the smaller the vehicle the faster they go? I will never understand that one.
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The closer we got to home, the more disappearing acts the road did...
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Finally going through Pulaski, and we were on County B.
Say Yay!
Only two nasty hills to deal with. These hills do not bother me overmuch- Maybe because I am close to home; and maybe because as long as the other cars know how to drive then all is well.
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Joy! The snowplow on this county road had gone our way! hehehe
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But that same snowplow, and the snow, had also obscured my driveways.
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Oops, but never mind- (Please refer to the fact that I have 4 wheel drive).
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A little extra push on the gas pedal, and little swing at the end of that driveway, and we were HOME!
And SAFE!
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The tire tracks were from Miss Kelli stopping by earlier to make sure the house was warm for our arrival.
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We weren't home for an hour and a half and Jim pulled in with his snowplow. Thank God for Jim!
I hadn't planned on calling him until Wednesday, but his wife Sarah had driven by on her way home from work and had seen the lights on.
And it was a godsend that he did come because then at least we could get in/out if we needed to.
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I swear my hands are STILL deep red and bruised from holding that steering wheel.

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Casey stayed here until Wednesday evening- Too risky for Greg to have driven out that night.

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Miss Punk, and a very noisy (and indignant) Mr. Sputnik were reunited.
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I have just checked the weather forecast:

"A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS
EVENING.
THE SNOW WILL QUICKLY SPREAD EASTWARD FRIDAY MORNING...
AND IS EXPECTED TO TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST LATE FRIDAY
AFTERNOON. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT SNOW ACCUMULATION OF
THREE TO FIVE INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE WARNED AREA."

Oh wait! ~That's the forecast for Prattville, Alabama! hehehe

I sure hope William sends me more pictures, (like this one from last year).
Hint, Hint, William...
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That's my Lawrence! (March/2009).
He will be 10 on the 17th. Time flies.
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Texas already received their snow.
I have zero pictures of Isaiah or Wyatt in the snow.
Hint, Hint, Jenne.

"Hint, Hint" for Chuck, (and Katie, and Kristen, as well) !  hehehe

Uncle Chum called two days ago- He said he is doing well! (Sault Ste Marie, MI) and was going to be calling my Aunt Marlene that night.
She lives in Philadelphia, PA. They have gotten so much snow in the past ten days that it seems to be never ending. Breaking all records...

I'd better close for now, and get on with my day.

Hope you all have heat, electricity and are safe. (And once those things are taken care of then please get out and play in it)! I would love to see you take a picture of your own snow angel.

My love to all

XOXO
Me