We have had a Nascar trip planned for awhile, and this was the week for us to take off. I had to work on Monday and Tuesday and we were to take off on Wedsnesday. M was very nervous about the weather and checked the forecasts daily saying that maybe we should leave after work on Tuesday. I was the optimist, sure that everything would work out. Right after I got home from work on Tuesday the wind came up. There was snow in the forecast, too, so that was a bit worrisome. M had darts that night and got home about 10:30 saying, "if we're going, we have to go now or we won't get out of here." Luckily, we were pretty much packed and ready. R was also at darts and on his way home. He was coming to pick up our dog and trade pickups. He put his in our garage and took the bale pickup and the dog and headed to his house, and we headed toward Richland. We didn't get very far when the cell phone rang. R was stuck. He had also lost the fan belt (again) and the pickup was heating. We turned around and headed to R. I can't explain how bad the visibility was. The snow was swirling so much. We got almost to R but were afraid to go too far in case we would get stuck, too. R and Pete came running through the snow and climbed in with us. We took them back to our house where R would stay for the night and then ride his snowmobile to his house in the morning.
I was doubtful that we could make it to Richland and didn't want to go, but M was determined so off we went again. It was slow going, but I could see out the side window and let him know if I thought he needed to go left or right to stay on the road. At least where there were big banks of snow on each side we knew where the edges of the road were. We had just gone by the turn to our neighbor's house where there is a slight curve in the road and I was saying, "go right, go right" but he didn't react fast enough and we dived in the ditch. What a sick feeling. I thought M was going to cry.
I called the neighbor's house and told them we had driven into the ditch and politely asked if they'd like to come pull us out. Our neighbor came and after several tries was able to pull us out. His wife had just gotten home from work in Scobey and said that the weather wasn't bad when she left work. It was so awful where we were that I said if we made it to Richland we weren't going any further. We got to the highway and headed into Richland and the situation seemed much better so we transferred our stuff from the pickup to our car and headed toward Scobey.
The situation wasn't as good as it seemed earlier and we basically followed the yellow line on the highway. That worked well until the lines disappeared under snow. At one point we would have been in the ditch again but happened to veer off where there was an approach. We had to buck a few snowdrifts along the way. Things did improve farther down the road with less wind, but it was still snowing heavily. M didn't feel comfortable taking the road from Scobey to Wolf Point since it has been bad all winter so we dropped in on his parents at 1:30 am , two hours after we had left home, and spent the night there. I told M my mouth had never been so dry and it must have been from the fear. I was gripping the door handle so tight that I developed a terrible cramp in my arm.
Luckily, the snow didn't continue much longer. We headed south at about 8:00 am and although there was still some ground drifting the road was basically bare and dry. So, we continued on and stopped for the night 14 hours and 900+ miles later. But, after driving through Cheyenne, Denver, Albuquerque and Mesa I've decided I would rather drive through a blizzard than drive in traffic!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Digging out.......again!
We had quite the blizzard yesterday. M was up early since they had two trucks loaded with peas, and he was determined to get them to the elevator. He left the house about 6:00 am, while it was still dark. About 45 minutes later he called to tell me I could stay in bed because I wasn't going to make it to work. He had been sitting on the road most of that time waiting for the wind and snow to let up so he could see the road to get to town. He lost the fan belt on his pickup and no one was able to get to work at the station in town so he wasn't going to be able to fix it. He was going to call me later when he decided what he was going to do.
We have a row of grain bins practically in our backyard and there were times when I could barely see them for the blowing snow. I called M and told him not to try to come home. I didn't want him stuck and stranded. He didn't listen, though, and attempted to come home in one of J's work pickups. At one point he would get out and walk ahead and put a shovel in the snow so he would know where the road was, walk back to the pickup and drive to the shovel. He said he did that about 20 times before he got into some serious snow and was worried he was going to get stuck. At that point he found a small patch of bare road and managed to turn around and go back to town. J was still in town and wanted M to get home before he left and headed back to Scobey in case he got stuck and needed help so they set out together. J has a jacked up pickup with big tires so he went first and plowed and shoveled his way through and then M would follow.
M said he would let me know when he left town but didn't. Said he didn't want me to worry, but he knew I would tell him not to come and chew his butt for not listening to me. I saw him walking across our yard and wondered how far he had had to walk. Turns out it wasn't far. He was able to blast through most of the drifts but couldn't see how big the last one was until he felt like he was in the air. He almost made it through!
J was out bright and early to come plow us out and R plowed his way from his place to ours. When they hooked the tractor on to pull the pickup out, they couldn't even budge it until we shoveled some snow from underneath. J and R plowed all day. It started snowing again about 3:00 and is still snowing at 10:30 so they may have just wasted their time. This is getting really old!
We have a row of grain bins practically in our backyard and there were times when I could barely see them for the blowing snow. I called M and told him not to try to come home. I didn't want him stuck and stranded. He didn't listen, though, and attempted to come home in one of J's work pickups. At one point he would get out and walk ahead and put a shovel in the snow so he would know where the road was, walk back to the pickup and drive to the shovel. He said he did that about 20 times before he got into some serious snow and was worried he was going to get stuck. At that point he found a small patch of bare road and managed to turn around and go back to town. J was still in town and wanted M to get home before he left and headed back to Scobey in case he got stuck and needed help so they set out together. J has a jacked up pickup with big tires so he went first and plowed and shoveled his way through and then M would follow.
M said he would let me know when he left town but didn't. Said he didn't want me to worry, but he knew I would tell him not to come and chew his butt for not listening to me. I saw him walking across our yard and wondered how far he had had to walk. Turns out it wasn't far. He was able to blast through most of the drifts but couldn't see how big the last one was until he felt like he was in the air. He almost made it through!
J was out bright and early to come plow us out and R plowed his way from his place to ours. When they hooked the tractor on to pull the pickup out, they couldn't even budge it until we shoveled some snow from underneath. J and R plowed all day. It started snowing again about 3:00 and is still snowing at 10:30 so they may have just wasted their time. This is getting really old!
 |
| Our driveway |
 |
| A little stuck |
 |
| Trying to pull it out with the tractor |
 |
| The hole left after the pickup was out |
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
No Snow Fun
The days are all starting to run together, wind one day, stuck the next. M got stuck the day he forgot his cell phone at home. He managed to back out after some shoveling and get back home to wait for the plow. The county plow was finally out here over the weekend and improved our road condition immensely! Kudos to those guys for being out there all day every day trying to make everyone (or at least Someone) happy. They didn't have much success on the road to the farm where R is currently holed up. He has had to bring the tractor to the main road a few times and have a friend pick him up. He may start going everywhere on snowmobile.
I have had to be at work every day this week while my boss is enjoying some time off in Mexico. I've been packed and ready to stay in town. I haven't had to stay yet although the past two nights I wondered if I was making a mistake by coming home as there was considerable ground drifting. There are high winds in the forecast for tomorrow and Saturday. Great! I just keep thinking that every day is one day closer to spring. Bring it on!
I have had to be at work every day this week while my boss is enjoying some time off in Mexico. I've been packed and ready to stay in town. I haven't had to stay yet although the past two nights I wondered if I was making a mistake by coming home as there was considerable ground drifting. There are high winds in the forecast for tomorrow and Saturday. Great! I just keep thinking that every day is one day closer to spring. Bring it on!
 |
| The road to the cows |
 | |
| Our front yard--looks kind of bleak |
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Sad Farewell
After many months (maybe years) of discussion, debate and procrastination we finally had our old dog, Cruiser, put to sleep on Saturday. No one wanted to be the one to finally say it had to happen or to make it happen. R has been saying that he was depressed by seeing him the way he had become. He finally said someone needed to man up and take care of it, and he ended up being the man. On Friday, the vet was out to Bang's vaccinate our replacement heifers. He comes down from Canada and was planning to stay overnight so he and R made a date for Saturday morning. R also needed to take his dog, Trip, in for some shots.
M made pancakes for breakfast (usually a Sunday morning thing) because Cruiser LOVED pancakes. We were going to let him into the entryway to eat his share, but he couldn't get up the two steps from the garage into the house. R and M loaded him up in the kennel and into the pickup and off they went. While they were gone, I attempted to find the grave we had dug in the fall (like I said, we'd been contemplating this for awhile) under two feet of snow. I didn't really have much trouble finding out and dug the snow out of it.
M wasn't here when R returned and R didn't have his boots on so I had to bury the dog by myself after carrying him across the yard and over snowbanks. It was an exhausting process but I did it. I started filling in the hole but got pooped out so waited for M to come home and we finished it together. Well, we finished it until spring when we'll have to do a better job. It was a cold, snowy, blowy depressing day. We'll plan a little service for him in the spring and put out a marker.
I always said that he ruined us for all other dogs. He had the best disposition, so calm, so obedient, so loving. He was my walking companion and will be missed so much, not just by me but by the whole family.
M made pancakes for breakfast (usually a Sunday morning thing) because Cruiser LOVED pancakes. We were going to let him into the entryway to eat his share, but he couldn't get up the two steps from the garage into the house. R and M loaded him up in the kennel and into the pickup and off they went. While they were gone, I attempted to find the grave we had dug in the fall (like I said, we'd been contemplating this for awhile) under two feet of snow. I didn't really have much trouble finding out and dug the snow out of it.
M wasn't here when R returned and R didn't have his boots on so I had to bury the dog by myself after carrying him across the yard and over snowbanks. It was an exhausting process but I did it. I started filling in the hole but got pooped out so waited for M to come home and we finished it together. Well, we finished it until spring when we'll have to do a better job. It was a cold, snowy, blowy depressing day. We'll plan a little service for him in the spring and put out a marker.
I always said that he ruined us for all other dogs. He had the best disposition, so calm, so obedient, so loving. He was my walking companion and will be missed so much, not just by me but by the whole family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)