When it snows, it...??

Interesting weekend! 

Friday evening, I just vegetated around the house, per usual.  Saturday, I went over to the house of a ham friend to help with some house projects in order to get their home ready to put on the market sometime this spring.  Spent the bulk of the day with them and their daughter stripping wallpaper.  Now, I have stripped wallpaper before--a job that I hate because it usually takes forever--but I have quite forgotten how fast things go when there are many hands working instead of just mine!  We got their entire dining area done and actually started on the kitchen before we retired for the day so everyone could go off to their next project.  I even had some energy left!

I came home, threw some things into the car, and headed for Muncie to visit Meg and family.  Drove through some heavy snow, although none of it was sticking on the roadway.  I just had to back down my speed because visibility was so bad...but I got to Muncie pretty much on schedule. 

Today, Meg and Nate left for church early for choir rehearsal, leaving Gwamma to get the kids ready.  Piece o' cake!  I have discovered that if I put something on TV that they are interested in, I can get them dressed while they are distracted, feed them breakfast, and head for church without too many toddler issues.  Church was nice.  The choir did a nice job, and the service was "cookie communion" that the children participated in.  Lovely! 

After church, Meg and I went food shopping while Nate fed the kids; then Meg and I took the kids (while Nate read his book at home) and went to a Fun and Safety Fair at the Convention Center in Muncie.  A few balloons and some sugary snacks later, we headed back to the house.  Meg started cooking some hors d'oeuvres for choir practice on Tuesday (Valentine's Day).  I threw my stuff in the car, then lingered a bit to trim Robin's bangs...then headed home.  I wanted to be on the road by 4:30 in order to make the entire trip in daylight, but left closer to 5:00.  It had snowed on and off all day, but nothing was sticking to the roadways.  I just wanted to be home before temperatures dropped below freezing.  It was the SMARTEST decision I have made in a loooong time!

There is an Indianapolis repeater that works all the way up to my daughter's.  The regulars on that frequency know that, if I amon there, I am coming or going from Muncie.  They humor me with conversation and/or weather/road reports along the way.  When I was still an hour from home, one ham got on and told me that there was a snow cell over Hendricks County (home), and chuckled about how I probably didn't want to hear that.  I figured it would have moved on before I got there.  Besides, the roads were just wet in places...and dry in others.  Well!  When I got onto I-70 just east of the Indy airport--not 15 miles from home--snow became intense, and it was sticking.  In a 2-mile stretch of interstate, I saw multi-vehicle accidents, slide-offs, vehicles into guardrails and cement walls, all just happening...probably in excess of 12 vehicles, mostly on the eastbound side, but some westbound, too.  Traffic westbound slowed to a crawl.  It wasn't a traffic jam.  We were just scared!  When semis slow to 20 mph, you know you're in trouble!  I slowed with them and crept home.  My driveway never looked so good!!! 

I think what happened was that the snow squalls that have been so prevalent this weekend were suddenly met by a rapid drop in temperature, and drivers didn't realize that the roads had suddenly turned from just wet to icy with a slight (deceptive) snow-cover.  They began to figure things out in very short order when the interstate began to look like a demolition derby! 

It has been a busy weekend but nice to visit with my grandchildren.  (Sorry, Meg!  Nice to visit with you and Nathan, too...but...well...the babies are my first priority!)

By the way, to those of you who may happen to read this blah-g who don't know about ham radio, sorry about your luck!  A cell phone would have done nothing for me on either the trip up to Muncie or back...but I had company all the way on amateur radio, with multiple people listening in and ready to help if I needed it.  God bless this hobby!