I've mentioned it before, but I live in the northern suburbs of Baltimore, MD. As most of you (in the U.S.) probably know, we had a major winter storm on the east coast yesterday.
Here, on Tuesday the news said we wouldn't get any snow until last night, and they were predicting 1-3". I woke up for work yesterday morning and got a call at 6:30am from a co-worker asking if we were still going to meet as scheduled. When I asked why we wouldn't meet as scheduled he told me to look outside. It was already pouring snow and we had about 2" on the ground. It snowed until about 8:30 or so and we had about 3" on the ground. It then changed to rain/sleet. During the day the snow plows got the roads in pretty good shape.
My wife works at Ruby Tuesday and she was scheduled to work from 4-11pm. She went in at 3:30 and didn't have any trouble in her little FWD sedan. I left work at about 4:00 and it had changed back over to snow. It didn't take long to cover the roads again and by the time I was getting home in my work van it was a real struggle to get up the hill to my apartment complex (but I made it, barely). There were approximately 20 cars stuck and wrecked on the hill but I was able to help push a lady's car out of the way and get my van into the parking lot.
I went back down to try and help people get out of the road because the street was completely blocked with wrecked cars. It was pouring snow and thundering and lightning at this point. My wife called and said Ruby Tuesday was closing at 7pm and I told her not to even try to drive home as by this point (about 6pm) we had 5" on the ground and it it was snowing at about 2" an hour.
At 7pm I threw the dog in the back of the Jeep, put her in 4-Hi and started my rescue mission. There were abandoned and stuck cars everywhere. I had to do a little off-roading to get around some stuck vehicles and go the wrong way up one way streets to get around abandoned cars blocking the road. I finally made it to the beltway and thought it might be more clear than the back streets (shoulda turned on the CB before I got on the ramp). The beltway was a disaster with 6-7" of snow unplowed and people in Mustangs and Smart cars stuck everywhere. 18 wheelers weren't having much luck either. I was stuck on the beltway for about 45 minutes until I could get to the next exit.
Finally made it off the beltway and getting off the beltway I had to climb a hill where cars were spun out and stuck all over the place. I was working my way around them without issue until some guy that was spun out sideways decided to gun it as I was passing him and he forced me off the road but I was able to keep her pointed in the right direction and get back on track.
I was making it up the street to Ruby Tuesday OK but right before Ruby Tuesday there's a big hill and a city bus was spun out and was blocking the road so I had to go around the block on a side street that had cars wrecked all over it. Finally made it around the block and got to Ruby Tuesday at about 8:45pm. Picked up the wife (and a couple of her friends who were also stranded) and filled up with gas at the Exxon next to Ruby's.
We left at 9pm, dropped the first passenger off just a few blocks from Rubys. I was trying to get back to a main road and slid into a big dip in the road for a storm drain (I was too close to the curb) and got briefly hung up in the snow but after a couple attempts I was free and made it up the hill. Got to the last passenger's apartment which was right by the interstate at the bottom of a big hill. There were trees down all over the place, the interstate was shut down and cars stuck/abandoned everywhere. We got to her apartment building and dropped her off. Had a close call leaving the building as I had to go down a fairly steep hill that had cars stuck/abandoned all over the side. I was trying to go slow but the Jeep started sliding. Everytime I touched the brake the Jeep wanted to turn into the parked cars so I had to stay off the brake but I was going to slide out into the road. Fortunately there were no vehicles coming and I slid out in the road and got it back under control.
We were making it up the only road I could find that wasn't blocked and were doing ok until we ran into a big tree that was down across the road so we had to wait an hour while they cut the tree out of the road. After that it wasn't too bad until we got back to the street we live on which still hadn't been touched by a plow. We had a good 10-12" here and it was fun getting up the hill into the apartment complex but the Jeep made it. We got home around 11:30pm.
So, long story short, I had to go rescue my wife in the Jeep. It was a total trip of about 4 1/2 hours. Did I mention that Ruby Tuesday is only about 10 miles from where I live?
I was thinking about going to Rausch Creek to wheel this weekend, but I think I've gotten my wheelin' fix for now
.
Thank God for Jeeps!!
Here, on Tuesday the news said we wouldn't get any snow until last night, and they were predicting 1-3". I woke up for work yesterday morning and got a call at 6:30am from a co-worker asking if we were still going to meet as scheduled. When I asked why we wouldn't meet as scheduled he told me to look outside. It was already pouring snow and we had about 2" on the ground. It snowed until about 8:30 or so and we had about 3" on the ground. It then changed to rain/sleet. During the day the snow plows got the roads in pretty good shape.
My wife works at Ruby Tuesday and she was scheduled to work from 4-11pm. She went in at 3:30 and didn't have any trouble in her little FWD sedan. I left work at about 4:00 and it had changed back over to snow. It didn't take long to cover the roads again and by the time I was getting home in my work van it was a real struggle to get up the hill to my apartment complex (but I made it, barely). There were approximately 20 cars stuck and wrecked on the hill but I was able to help push a lady's car out of the way and get my van into the parking lot.
I went back down to try and help people get out of the road because the street was completely blocked with wrecked cars. It was pouring snow and thundering and lightning at this point. My wife called and said Ruby Tuesday was closing at 7pm and I told her not to even try to drive home as by this point (about 6pm) we had 5" on the ground and it it was snowing at about 2" an hour.
At 7pm I threw the dog in the back of the Jeep, put her in 4-Hi and started my rescue mission. There were abandoned and stuck cars everywhere. I had to do a little off-roading to get around some stuck vehicles and go the wrong way up one way streets to get around abandoned cars blocking the road. I finally made it to the beltway and thought it might be more clear than the back streets (shoulda turned on the CB before I got on the ramp). The beltway was a disaster with 6-7" of snow unplowed and people in Mustangs and Smart cars stuck everywhere. 18 wheelers weren't having much luck either. I was stuck on the beltway for about 45 minutes until I could get to the next exit.
Finally made it off the beltway and getting off the beltway I had to climb a hill where cars were spun out and stuck all over the place. I was working my way around them without issue until some guy that was spun out sideways decided to gun it as I was passing him and he forced me off the road but I was able to keep her pointed in the right direction and get back on track.
I was making it up the street to Ruby Tuesday OK but right before Ruby Tuesday there's a big hill and a city bus was spun out and was blocking the road so I had to go around the block on a side street that had cars wrecked all over it. Finally made it around the block and got to Ruby Tuesday at about 8:45pm. Picked up the wife (and a couple of her friends who were also stranded) and filled up with gas at the Exxon next to Ruby's.
We left at 9pm, dropped the first passenger off just a few blocks from Rubys. I was trying to get back to a main road and slid into a big dip in the road for a storm drain (I was too close to the curb) and got briefly hung up in the snow but after a couple attempts I was free and made it up the hill. Got to the last passenger's apartment which was right by the interstate at the bottom of a big hill. There were trees down all over the place, the interstate was shut down and cars stuck/abandoned everywhere. We got to her apartment building and dropped her off. Had a close call leaving the building as I had to go down a fairly steep hill that had cars stuck/abandoned all over the side. I was trying to go slow but the Jeep started sliding. Everytime I touched the brake the Jeep wanted to turn into the parked cars so I had to stay off the brake but I was going to slide out into the road. Fortunately there were no vehicles coming and I slid out in the road and got it back under control.
We were making it up the only road I could find that wasn't blocked and were doing ok until we ran into a big tree that was down across the road so we had to wait an hour while they cut the tree out of the road. After that it wasn't too bad until we got back to the street we live on which still hadn't been touched by a plow. We had a good 10-12" here and it was fun getting up the hill into the apartment complex but the Jeep made it. We got home around 11:30pm.
So, long story short, I had to go rescue my wife in the Jeep. It was a total trip of about 4 1/2 hours. Did I mention that Ruby Tuesday is only about 10 miles from where I live?
I was thinking about going to Rausch Creek to wheel this weekend, but I think I've gotten my wheelin' fix for now
. Thank God for Jeeps!!
