Winter Wonderland
My good friend, Kate Amann (Chocolate Cake and Beer), was in from Scotland for the holidays. I haven’t seen her in person since 2006, so when the opportunity arose to visit her, I made the appropriate plans. I’d known about her trip since spring, and I made Dan sign on for the visit in summer. We didn’t really anticipate the decade’s biggest snowstorm to hit the weekend we were supposed to drive to Frederick, Maryland.
This is how I know that I have a wonderful boyfriend. The plan was to drive down Saturday, which according to all forecasts, would be the height of the storm. He came to my house prepared with his parents’ 4-wheel drive Ford Escape full of blankets and winter gear, and when my Mom suggested we drive down Friday night and rent a hotel room, he realized it was a good idea. We arrived in Frederick just as the snow started to fall and checked in to a Comfort Inn about a mile from Kate’s house. We watched the snow start to come down harder and harder while enjoying our king sized bed. Well, I enjoyed the bed a lot more; I had taught that day and I fell asleep pretty fast. Dan watched a movie, read some of his book, and ate some beef jerky.
By morning, Frederick was covered in what I would say was about a foot of snow. We took full advantage of our late checkout time, and waited until about 2 p.m. to dig out the Escape. We borrowed a shovel from the hotel since a huge drift had formed around the SUV. Then we headed started driving what was supposed to be 0.8 miles to Kate’s house, missing our turn and taking a scenic detour in the snow. The roads were not in good shape at all, and we were thankful that we had four-wheel drive to help us out—even though the four-wheel drive then got stuck in Kate’s freshly plowed-in driveway. A neighbor who had recently pulled the mailman out with his pickup truck attempted to help us, but it was only shoveling and reverse that could fix us. When we finally got in to Kate’s house, we were tired and wet and the snow was still falling!
We were the only ones out of the original invitees that made it to the party (aside from Kate’s neighbors, who came because this was actually her parents’ party), so our hanging out wasn’t really exciting. It was a lot like it was in college. Catching up, eating good food and watching ridiculous television (introducing Kate and Scott to It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia). After it was dark, we went outside to get our air mattress and sleeping bags and clear the SUV off once again. The four of us played in the still-falling snow, too. Scott nailed Kate in the head with a snowball and she pushed him into a snowbank. I built a tiny snowman that Dan stabbed with an icicle. By morning and our next round of playing in the snow, about two feet had fallen. After a delicious breakfast with Kate’s family, we hit the road. Side streets were still rough, but the interstate was dry and getting back to my house was easy.
I wish I had pictures from this weekend, because it was so random and so pretty. Snowball fights and beer may have led to a headcold, but I also have the beginning of a great ending to 2009. I’m extraordinarily delighted that Dan helped make this visit possible. I’m thrilled I got to see one of my favorite people and her wonderful man during their brief time in the US. And I’m happy I survived what folks are calling Snowpocalypse 2009.