Trapped on the Hill
I took a business trip to the East Coast early this week. That meant I had a long flight and a three hour time differences ahead of me. Wanting to get a jump on the trip, I got booked on the 9AM flight on Monday morning. That way, I could get to the East Coast by 5PM, have time to check into my hotel, and get dinner before bed. But the weather and WSDOT were conspiring against me.
Monday morning, I woke up to a beautiful white blanket covering the neighborhood. Yes, it has snowed. Almost 2 inches worth. No problem. I have no problem driving in snow. It’s the ice that’s problematic. So, we got the kids bundled up and in the car to take daddy to the airport and set out on our way. As soon as we hit the main road, it was clear there was a problem.
Our town has but one major road through it. On this particular day, we reached the intersection and saw that the highway was still covered with snow. When it snows, WSDOT usually has the road cleared of snow, sanded, and dicer laid by 7AM. Today, we met compact snow and a long line of cars struggling to get their occupants to work.
With a flight to catch, and an hour to make the 18 mile journey, we joined the masses and slowly inched our way down the road knowing that as soon as we got off the plateau, it would be smooth sailing all the way to the airport. After all, the snow never really lasts down in the valley. And the highways down there are always cleared off. Alas, we never got a chance to find out. After traveling for 45 minutes and covering barely 1 mile, we heard on the radio that the DOT had closed the highway completely. Now, there was no getting out of town.
With no way to get to the airport, we turned around and headed home. After checking in with the folks at work, and talking to the airline, I was able to get myself rescheduled onto the afternoon flight leaving at 2PM. With nothing to do until the road reopened, the kids and I headed outside to throw snowballs, make snow angels, and ride the sled.
Finally, just before 11AM, the road reopened. We again loaded everyone into the car, and headed off to the airport. This time, everything went smoothly, and I was able to make my flight. I ended up getting in about 9:30 and it was nearly 11PM by the time I get settled in the hotel. But at least I got here.
Now I just had to get home. And it had started snowing again in Seattle….
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