The snowstorm

Okay so we made it to Baton Rouge so I'll post about our activities here later when I can post some pics, but figured I'd start it off with our ordeal getting here.

Yes, we knew it was going to snow a lot and there was a chance our flight would get delayed or cancelled, but we never anticipated how the day would actually turn out. Up to the point when we left, weather reports said that it would snow 1-2 inches during the day on Friday and then 8-10 inches overnight in Blacksburg, so we figured if we just left a little bit early, we'd be able to last through the short delays a minor snowfall might cause. Thus, we left ill prepared to spend more than just a few hours in the car.

So we left the house at 2:30pm for our 8pm flight out of Charlotte (normally a 2 and a half hour drive). I saw the very first snowflakes at about 1:45pm, so we left shortly after it started snowing. Took us about 10 minutes to get about 1.5 miles away and saw 2 cars that had run off the road in that short distance. That should have been our indicator right there to turn around and go home. Add to that all of the people leaving the VT graduation that had occurred that morning, and we had ourselves a long trip down Hwy 460 (one that normally takes 10 minutes to get to the interstate). An hour later, we had made it to Christiansburg (5 miles) and decided to get off and get on the interstate another way. We only had to stop at a few lights, thank goodness, because getting going again was difficult (and we saw some cars that all together couldn't get the traction). Finally we made it to the interstate where we thought it seemed closed because there were no cars. Smooth sailing for all of 1 mile before stopped traffic. Took us another hour to go the next 5 miles, where we again decided to get off and bypass about 11 miles of the interstate. That way was faster, as we went those 11 miles in about 50 minutes, but also by then there was about 5 inches of snow on the ground and it was coming down fast, so we decided the interstate was the safest route. Again, at that point we were 20 minutes from our house, but it had taken use 3 hours to get there, so we should have turned back.

But we decided to forge ahead, thinking after we got down the mountain things would improve and we'll finally be able to go more than 20 mph. Unfortunately the conditions got worse and worse. About every mile, Braden would reach around and pull on the windshield wipers to remove the ice off of them. It was almost a complete white out and we couldn't see the road at all. After 5 hours on the road, we had made it off of the mountain and into North Carolina. We had stopped to get snacks and gas, but the stops were very quick as the snow was coming down hard. Just past the North Carolina border, COMPLETE standstill. Apparently a wreck, though we never found out for sure. But there we stayed for the next 6 HOURS! From 8pm to 2am. Ethan slept during that time and Blythe slept some of it. Braden and I did not.

Back at 5pm we had called the airline and rebooked on the next morning's flight, so at this point our goal was to make it for our 9:30am flight. Finally after 6 hours, we started moving. However, conditions were not much better. We drove in a forged out lane somewhere in the middle of the interstate in a single file going about 20 mph until we got just north of Charlotte. About 20 minutes from the airport, we were finally able to see the asphalt of the road and start to go at a normal speed. We made it to the airport at 5am....14 and a half hours after we started the journey. Our new flight was only a little bit late leaving, and after a terrible flight with 2 very tired kids (who had been awake since 2am) and 2 VERY tired parents, we were finally here.

My amazing husband drove the whole way eyes wide awake and hands gripped to the steering wheel. And yes, we drive a mini-van, but we weren't one of the 100 or so cars we saw that had run off the road. What an ordeal!