Stuck

Two nights ago I went to bed listening to the sound of rain lightly tapping on the roof and woke up to a majestic winter wonderland. Somewhere through the night the God of Snow decided to bless this little town with that powdery white stuff that makes everyone smile a little brighter and opening day seem that much closer. If you know what I'm describing you know exactly how I felt waking up yesterday morning. Unfortunately that ecstatic feeling quickly wore off as I began to wish I had listened to my gut telling me to get snow tires put on my car. Instead I procrastinated because my schedule was just too busy and I didn't really want to spend the money.

When I went outside to see if my car would made it I rejoiced once again because the snow was wet and heavy which meant I should make it just fine. As I drove to work I couldn't help but smile at the beauty of the town. Somehow all of the stresses from the day before had disappeared and everything seemed to be okay. Work was a little busier than normal and most people were cheery even before they got their coffee.

After work I went to pick up Cali for the weekend. The snowflakes were huge and falling fast but I prayed my little car with summer tires would make it out of my friend's development. As I slid around the corner I was thankful that I lived in Buffalo and had a lot of experience driving in such terrible conditions, but as I began my descent up the hill to the main road my car got stuck. There was nothing I could have done. The snow was simply too deep and the tires had no tread to dig through it. Some very friendly neighbors came out and tried to help me but there was no hope. I'd simply have to wait for the snow to calm down and for the plows to come. We attempted to park my car but even that was difficult. The snow that had fallen in the half hour or so made navigating around their small development nearly impossible.

Since my friend who lived there was in Copper ski training I called up everyone I knew with a car to see if they could come pick me up but they were all working or out of town. Finally my friend Mike agreed because he had to go to work and I was only slightly out of his way. Once I got home I began brainstorming. Should I leave my car there for the night or should I figure out a way to get it to a shop and have tires put on? Since I had the dog and couldn't take the bus, getting my car to the shop seemed like the only reasonable solution. I decided to call my friend Ian who grew up in Steamboat, loved cars, and lived only a few seconds down the road. Luckily he had a few hours to spare before he had to work. I'm sure I looked like a complete amateur standing there as he drove my car as far up the hill as it would go and then latched it to a tow rope. At that point it was pretty easy to get it onto a main road, and from there Ian lead to me the only car center in town that was able to put my tires on. I got lucky, most places said it would be a few days but Doc's auto took care of me in just a couple of hours and they were really friendly and affordable.

I've definitely learned my lesson. The scary part about having a car out here is not having my dad to come bail me out when I get myself into trouble. I am fortunate to have great friends who are willing to help and friendly neighbors that will lend a hand. If you haven't put you snow tires on yet be sure to do it soon because it doesn't look like this snow is going to stop. If your car is good to go I hope you are enjoying the beautiful winter weather we've all been waiting for!