Steady As We Go: Snowpocalypse 2009

John and I had quite the adventure during the Blizzard of 2009. We were celebrating my brother Brad's graduation from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg when the snow fall started. We had heard on the news that we should be expecting a lot of snow, but I'm not quite sure we understood how much. We were determined to get out of Blacksburg that night because I knew it would just get worse the more we waited...and I was on call Sunday morning! My family stayed that night and ended up getting snowed in until Sunday.

We made a pit stop in Christiansburg for some gas and Sheetz snacks and were on our way...sort of. The exit lane towards I-81 and Rt 460 was gridlocked. We sat there for 10 min or so and then realized that we were going to spend the rest of the night on that ramp if we didn't get off. So John pulled the car around and we drove the wrong way off the exit to get back onto a moving street! We eventually found 460, and realized that it was going to be a scary trek. That road was complete with hills, sharp turns, and scary bridges. We passed countless semi's that had slid off the side of the road, some blocking traffic in the opposite lane. Cars skidded in front of us and we had to maneuver around them just in time before they got us stuck on a hill (its all about momentum!!) I have never been so thankful for Twitter, because I was getting live feeds that 81 up to Roanoke was closed down with miles of cars left stranded. 29S was shut down as well. We were able to alter our trip, and joined up with 81 again right about the closed portion. This is where the snowpocalypse began to unfold. It felt like we were in a deserted wasteland, the end of the world. Not many cars around us, and it was understood that if anyone got stuck they were on their own...so their presence wasn't quite comforting. A slow car in front needed to be passed at any possible opportunity b/c if they got stuck it meant driving off the road to get around them. Basically, no plows had made it through--but we did see a few stuck in ditches along the way. Talk about scary. The only way we made it home was by the grace of God, Twitter, my husband's driving, and my amazing small SUV, "Bessie." The drive took us 8 hrs b/c we averaged 30MPH the entire way. By the time we reached the final big obstacle--Afton Mountain--we laughed right in its face b/c it was much easier to pass than the barren wasteland and Semi dodging we had done on 81 and 460. We made it home at 2AM and were oh so thankful. Turns out 81 was shut down for a few days and the National Guard was called in to help stranded motorists. WOW, what an adventure. We got a lot of positive marital bonding out of the drive from hell, but I can't say I will ever want to do anything like that again!!

We were thankful to have the rest of the weekend to be snowed in at home. Lots of relaxation, shoveling, and good times with Carly and the neighbors.

Carly and her buddy Neil. She was shivering so Neil put her inside his coat.