Truckee

I haven't written anything here in a long time.  Mostly because it is winter, the B&B is closed, I am on a diet and nothing tasty is being prepared.  Also, we went out to California to visit our granddaughter.  We made it a late Christmas and all our grown children and their spouses came for the "holidays". 



It was like being in a tunnel.  The snow was piled higher than our heads!

Our daughter that lives in England was able to come so it was a family reunion, a bit of Christmas and lots of fun.

                     

The California drought has gone out with a bang.  This means scads of snow in the mountain areas.  We rented a house in Truckee from Airbnb and planned on lots of snowy fun.  It started off strange as our GPS said we were at our destination, but all we could see was brief gaps in the snow carved out for a garage. 

 

The adventurists went snowboarding and skiing. 

 

The baby went sledding for the first time and was lots of fun

Of course, this was the highlight.  Sorry to everyone else that took long flights to get here.  Rachel trumps all. 

                   

Wait.  Are we allowed to use Trump as a positive?

Snow Is A Four Letter Word

 
Snow is beautiful.  It covers brown dry grass and makes any winter landscape starkly simple and more gorgeous than the exposed winter vegetation. 

 

I love the look of it resting on branches and trees.

 

I love the view of our stream and bordered with snow. 

 

I love to see the tracks the deer and rabbits make after a snow fall.

 

RJ loves, Loves,  LOVES the snow!  He loves running in it and leaping in it.

 

He WON'T get in the Mule for a ride and he will stay out as long as we do.

 

I hate the vehicles that start to slide in the snow for no good reason and end up in a ditch.  I hate digging them out only to have them slide deeper into the snow.

 

We called a few people we know and asked if they knew anyone with a snow plow and CHAINS to come clear our drive.

Nope.

So now we sit and wait.  Cancel the dinner reservations and wait. 

 

We did clear a parking spot (by hand) at the bottom of the hill for our daughter to use.  When she gets here we will drive down in the Kawasaki Mule and bring her up. 

Lee was able to make one pass with the tractor and the scraper to start to clear a path.  Then, when he took it out after the second snow fall, it was just that much too deep and the tractor slid off the road and stuck. 

So now we are using the technique my friend Rena espouses.  "God put it there.  I can wait for Him to take it away."

So we are waiting.  Unless you have a snow plow and want to make some money????

Deja Vu

There was  big snow storm in 2009 here in Botetourt County.  It dropped 18 inches and we were snowed in for about three days.  We have three 4-wheel drive vehicles, a Kawasaki Mule, A Ford 250 and a tractor.  All three slid into the snow and got stuck at various spots on the drive.  We would dig one out and it would drive for a bit and then slide off another side.  We did this over and over for three days.

We vowed that the next big storm Lee would get out and plow in the middle of the night so that we could see the road and not plow BESIDE the road.  And to keep the snow build-up from lifting the vehicles so high there was no traction.

 

Last night another big storm dropped about 10 inches.  Lee went out and plowed about 7:30, but it was only a few inches deep at that time.  He thought he would put out wooden stakes to mark the curve of the drive, but it was dark and cold and they were only talking about 8 inches.

 

Eight inches is no different than 18 inches if you are stuck and can't move.  Except it is easier to dig by hand.   And we got ten inches.

 

So now his tractor is stuck at the bottom of the drive.  The first part of the slope is steep and although the drive is cleared, he can't get traction.  It's too icy.  I drove down in the Mule to pick him up, but it slid off the curve.  Lee couldn't see the drive in an ocean of white and plowed on the side of the drive in a few spots, the curve being one.   The pitch was too great for the Mule.  It slid in the ditch.  I started digging and Lee hiked up the hill and we dug it free.  About 5 times.

 

We would dig and then Lee would try to get going.  The Mule would get stuck and we would hop out and dig some more.  It seemed to work a bit better when I was in the Mule with him, but he was kind enough not to point out that my weight assisted with the traction. Smart man. It's why we are still married.  Don't make stupid jokes that you can't take back, my free advice to the recently married.

 

So now I am on the computer and Lee is trying to see if he can get the truck going.  My thought is that we will soon have two 4-wheel drive vehicles stuck at the bottom of the drive.  Lee wants to see what he can do to get the tractor up.

The good thing is we don't have to be anywhere  anytime soon.  It is supposed to be about 47 tomorrow and that should take care of a good portion of the snow.

The only hurry to clear the drive involves a reservation at First and Sixth, the restaurant in the newly renovated Patrick Henry Hotel in Roanoke.  Tomorrow is Valentine's Day after all.  Also, our daughter, Tara, has a few days off from her Physician's Assistant program at George Washington and is coming to visit for a few days. And she will need to get up the drive.  Or park at the bottom and have someone come and get her.

Uh-oh.  It's snowing again.

 

At least the truck was able to get back up the hill.

So now we wait.

Christmas in Buchanan

All the "kids" came to Buchanan for Christmas. We had more snow than in the past 13 years. Good thing we have a tractor with a scraper or we would still be snowed in!