Tuesday, January 19, 2010

And That's How We Roll

It was snowing like crazy this morning, but with the school bus right on time, I figured it was business as usual. And being the good Durangoan that I am, I headed out to Tiny Tots. And I would like to point out that everybody was carrying on business as usual. In fact, not one kid was absent from The Tots. But parking and unparking at The Tots was more than I could handle this morning. Not only did I slide back down out of the parking lot into the street, but I got stuck. Stuck so bad that 4 people had to help push, including a snowplow driver who was telling me which way to turn my wheels. Now I know I was blocking the road, so to get through they needed me to move, but they were all really very sweet and helpful. I finally got myself parked, but then I got stuck again trying to leave The Tots. Not as bad as the first time (I only needed one helper), but stuck all the same. The one thing all the helpers had in common: telling me, "make sure you've got it in 4-wheel drive". You should have seen their faces when I said I didn't have 4-wheel drive. I guess in an effort to make me feel better they did comment on how nice my all-terrain tires were.
I wasn't quite sure I was actually going to make it home. Our house is uphill from town. And when I say "uphill" I mean, town is at 6, 500 ft and we're at 7,500 ft. So yeah, it's uphill. There's a fine line between driving fast enough so you don't start sliding backwards and not driving so fast that you loose control. I'm still not sure what that actual speed is. Neither my Texas driving skills (pull over and get in the ditch if you see a tornado coming at you and wave to the television camera if a high-speed chase passes you by), nor my Beijing driving skills (sit in the back and chit-chat with your girlfriends as the driver drives you around) prepared me for this. After a fish-tail to end all others coming into our neighborhood, and then a slide after a prayer into our garage, I decided I was done for the day. So although the sun came out and the roads were cleared in time for the bus, this is how we rolled this afternoon.
And JR pulling the sled was for modeling purposes only. Carrying his backpack is enough exercise in his book!

2 comments:

GS said...

That driving in snow if for snowbirds, not a Texas Gal. Love your afternoon wheels - although on your mountain roads, losing control and sliding backwards is still an option even in that mode of travel. A big thanks to all the good Durangoans for helping you out.

Anonymous said...

Wow, great driving for a Texas gal! I know Kyle and Reed enjoyed the afternoon sled ride. We are back in the 70's here today--I turned the AC on!
Lu