Dec302009
Back from Near Death and Vacation
Filed under Vacation by Kim at 4:03 pm on Dec 30 2009
What? Oh, hi. Yes. Writing.
We had a lovely trip down south. Once we actually got there. Somehow, I was taken by surprise at the swiftness and ferocity of the east coast blizzard. I thought we were going to beat it out of town, or at least get far enough east that all we would have to deal with was rain. I was so, so wrong.
Going to Norfolk generally involves either 95 to 64, a taxing and nightmarish drive at the best of times, or taking 301 down to 17, mild, pleasant state roads that generally have a lack of traffic and frustration. We took 301 south and had a lovely time, experiencing no inkling of the snow which was coming.
I thought taking 17 would take us to the rain zone. That it would be OK. It was not OK. My father advised against trying to get to 64, because Richmond was a hellscape. Thus we drove through the blizzard on unlit, lightly traveled roads that have hills and ditches and virtually no motels for long stretches so that at your most terrified and desperate, stopping seems like a terrible option because you are not kitted out with emergency blankets in your hatchback. We slid. Other folks went into ditches. I drove slower.
At some point I began to talk to myself in scary crazy-person monotone, scaring even the imperturbable Jack. But somehow despite refusing to drive in snow at all other times, I had newish tires and some reasonable snow driving instincts and we did not die or get stranded. There were a couple of hills I thought we would not have the traction to ascend; I did start to cry once or twice.
All in all I’d say I refuse to ever, ever do that again. Next time I will interpret the weather forecasts a little more pessimistically. Next time I will turn my ass around and find a motel before it gets bad. Next time perhaps I’ll only be hearing about it because I’ll be living in Arizona or Florida or southern California.
Port Royal to Tappahannock to Gloucester, about a 75 mile stretch, probably hasn’t seen that kind of snowfall in 15 years, and probably won’t again for another 15. So my dreams of moving somewhere it doesn’t snow are perhaps superfluous. But still, we managed to be there to see it.
We made it to Genie‘s house in a cool 8.5 hours, double the usual, with me in basket-case mode. But safe. And grateful. It took me a day or two to get calmed down, but it happened. We got to spend a day and a night eating and chatting and enjoying each others’ company. Hearing Genie’s stories, even the little ones, is so much more fun in person, as is telling my own.
After that we we moved down the road to the beach, but I’ll have to talk about that later as I am out of time!
1 Moiraon 30 Dec 2009 at 4:25 pm
Aiee! Glad you guys made it safely.
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2 Mariaon 31 Dec 2009 at 9:22 am
Wow, I probably would have actually gone insane if I had to drive for Several Hours (!!) in that. I only drove in it for 20 to 30 minutes and was yelling and babbling for hours afterward.
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3 Catbunnyon 31 Dec 2009 at 2:24 pm
Glad to hear you made it through!
Staying in one piece is a GOOD thing.
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