Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What a Night!!!!! Long Post....

It was supposed to be pretty straightforward.
Warren, Chelsea, Mom and I were going to 
have dinner at Hoss's in Lititz across from the 
airport and then go over and pick up Georgia
when her plane arrived after two great
weeks in sunny Florida.

Sounds so very simple....

Not exactly how things played out.
You see, when I was taking Chelsea to work
in the late afternoon we had just a few extra minutes
and so stopped at one of our favorite home decor stores.
On the door was a sign stating they were looking for 
a stock person.  My mind went to Jonathan.
I know...a huge guy in home decor?
Well, maybe....

I stopped someone and asked if they would consider
a guy for that position...
was led to the manager who was enthusiastic about 
a very tall guy to help unload the truck once per week.
I was given an application for him
Which I brought home and found him agreeable
to fill out and drop off.

This means that we have added a person
to our happy little pick up Georgia party.
That is a good thing.

So....off we went.
The radio reminding us often that there was snow 
on its way.   They just kept saying that 
it was going to be at the heaviest between 
10pm and 11pm.
I figured that at any minute Georgia would
call to say that she would be staying in Baltimore.
That was not to be.

We were sitting at Hoss's eating our dinner.
My phone rang and it was Georgia.
As soon as she knew it was me she said,
"This is so terrible, this is just so terrible!"
I got very concerned and asked what 
was so terrible.
She said that they were going to send all of 
the passengers in a shuttle bus from Baltimore to Lancaster.
They were to leave about 8:00pm so we figured they
would get in around 10:00pm.
That didn't sound too bad.
We would get some shopping done.

Well, it didn't exactly turn out that way.
I think we had just left Michael's where we
had purchased some supplies for a project at church
when the phone rang.  
It was 8:30pm and the shuttle was just leaving Baltimore
in sleet.  It was going to be a slow go....
We headed to the mall.
This made two teenagers extremely happy.
We shopped until the doors were closing and we
had to leave.  Now it was just about 9:30pm
and we still had hours to kill.
We were NOT hungry so a restaurant seemed like
a bad idea...but I was thirsty and Chelsea and 
Warren were pretty sure they could entertain themselves
with Wi-Fi so the place of the Golden Arches fit
that bill.  By now it was snowing and the roads
were becoming snow covered.

So, with each other for entertainment
and a television with a terrible picture and just 
the words to read, Warren and Chelsea on their 
hand held devices, sometimes chatting with each other,
there we sat.  
Then Georgia called again.
They were stopped in York.
It was a temporary stop but things were 
not going well.  She was very frazzled.
It would be very late by the time they 
would get to Lancaster.

It was soon after this that I was visiting the ladies 
room when the cell phone rang.
Seeing that it was Warren's Aunt's phone
number I chose to answer it while still
in the stall.  I thought maybe something had happened.
It turned out to be Uncle Jim....
hmmm....this was embarrassing so I prepared 
to leave the stall.
Thus setting off the auto flusher.
More embarrassing!
In my most calm and business like voice
I asked him to hold one moment....
Yikes!
Well, it could have been an emergency!!
Sigh...the things I get myself into.
Turns out Georgia had called them from 
York and they were concerned
about the situation.

  We decided to go hang out at the airport.
They had told Georgia that someone would be there
and we would be able to go inside.
It is a lovely little airport and we thought at least 
there would be others in the same situation that we were...
more people to talk to.

We slipped and slid our way out to the airport where
all was dark!  It was obvious we would not be waiting
inside the building.  So we sat in the parking lot watching
the snow come down.  
Heavily!

Finally around 11:15pm a white van arrived.
The shuttle with very frustrated passengers.
Apparently the driver was not good in the snow.
There was nearly a takeover by one of the passengers 
who was demanding to drive.
He, of course, was not permitted to do so.
So...there was much, much frustration 
and relief
on the faces we saw.

Georgia got transferred over to our van and off we went.
It seemed to be not so bad at first.
We went straight through the city of Lancaster...
without too much trouble.
However, as we left Lancaster things got very bad
very quickly.   For one thing the windshield would not
stop freezing up.  Visibility was challenging at best.
At one point Warren jumped out at a light to snap 
the ice from his wiper blade.
It was a temporary success.

By the time we got to Willow Street we knew
we were in a very hazardous situation.
This was made even worse when we were suddenly 
driving in rushing waters.
In the dark, just outside of the little town of 
Willow Street someone had hit a fire hydrant.
It was gushing water at a tremendous rate
and causing flooding and freezing in the middle 
of the snow storm.
It was about 20 degrees out 
at this point.  
Water on the road
was a bad idea.
It was pitch black there and no one
was around.  No warning flares
or anything...just water and ice!

I called 911.
Thankfully they were aware of it and help was 
on the way...I cannot imagine the ice that 
must have built up there.

This left us with just over ten miles to go.
Ten miles of hoping we were still on the road.
Every now and then we found the middle of the 
road by the rumble strips carved into the yellow line.
Visibility was nearly non-existent.
At one place a car was simply stopped on the road
with its flashers going.
As it was near houses we passed it and kept going.
I do hope they were ok.

Finally, we made it home!
It is so good that we all live on the same 
street. By then, if that were not the case 
we would have been tempted to just stay at the first
of our houses we would have come to.
The snow totals here were much higher than anything
we had seen all evening.
It was around 12:30am by now.

What an evening!

Poor Georgia...
I kept saying, 
"I told you to stay another week!"

Well, since all ended well, 
it is very nice
to have her home. 

I hope she knows 
we are
glad
to see her.

Memories...more memories.
Life would be so dull without 
these Moms of ours!

14 comments:

Vee said...

And then the toilet flushed? Oh no! :D

I hope that you all were able to get some extra sleep this morning. Georgia may not wake before noon. Just be grateful that you weren't in her van having her adventure!

Hope that Jonathan gets the job!

Theresa said...

Dear friend, what a night! I am happy that all are safe at home and that nobody was injured due to the bad weather! I bet you will need a nap today:) Have a blessed and restful day! HUGS!

Carol said...

My goodness, what a night you had!!! So glad you all made it home safely!!

Smiles,
Carol

Joyce said...

I was just nervous reading your post. I hate to drive in snow and ice. Glad you are all home and tucked into a warm cozy home. It should be in the 60s here today so I will send you up some sun to melt the snow.
Joyce

Gayla said...

Oh, Becky, what a night. I am so grateful it all worked out okay. I cannot imagine how that felt. I am a big chicken driving on sleet, and I just hate it when I cannot see the road like that. I am sure today feels warm and happy if you can stay in and relax in a cozy, warm home.

Julie... said...

Thanks again for visiting at my blog and all your kind words :-)!
I've enjoyed reading down through your posts and even found out you have a gardener in your family! So many times I feel like the Lone Ranger toiling in the garden, even though I really do enjoy it, but it would be a lot more enjoyable if one of the kids had the same love for gardening that I do.
Sounds like you guys have been slammed with snow once again...take heart, Spring is a'comin' :-)!
Blessings, Julie

Tracy said...

I do hope that Jonathan gets the job. He'd probably be a real hit there, helping ladies reach things and such.

So thankful that you all made it safely home!

Melissa G said...

Wow, what a night! I'm glad you made it home safe and sound!
That sounded so similar to our trip to the St. Louis airport to pick up my sister and brother in law and little brother in December. And my little brother was coming in on a bus from Chicago and they had to drive sooo slow because of the snow and ice on the roads. We went to the mall too and had to leave when it closed. =)

Deanna said...

Rushing water and cars do not mix...I can imagine how terrifying that must have been. So glad to hear that you all made it safely home.

Deanna :D

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

What an adventure! Glad you all made it home in one piece!

How crazy was it that they decided to drive them to Lancaster in that weather but not fly them?!

Brittany Ann said...

Whoa! What a perfect storm of events, no pun intended!

But, seriously, I am so happy you all are home and safe!

Visits With Mary said...

Becky, your story kept me on the edge...so glad all of you made it home safe, being from Texas we just don't have that kind of weather...just hurricanes - grrrr
AND yes, I did laugh at the auto flusher - bahahaha...great post..
Blessings, Mary

Anonymous said...

Boy, what a night you had. I'm glad that everyone made in home without incident!

Elena said...

Wow, what a night!! I am so glad you are home and safe.