This week, Lance’s mom celebrated her 60th birthday. The family was gathering in Columbus, OH to celebrate. Lance and i were going to drive up for the weekend and make a “surprise” appearance. A grand plan, until a snowstorm was forecast for the exact time we would be driving (Friday night).
I came up with the idea that i could use my last vacation day of the year and instead we could drive up in the morning. We would easily head off the storm, and make it into Ohio for the party. Ohio looked like it would get some snow, but was not forecast to get hit hard. We left at 9:30 Friday morning.
It was a great idea, until…
To get to Ohio from Raleigh, you take 40 to Winston-Salem. Then take 52 north to I-77, which goes almost to Columbus. We followed this plan brilliantly and made it onto 77 until Wytheville, VA. We were in Wytheville at 12:30.
We saw some flurries, but not much else. Once we got onto 77, i relaxed - we would be on this road for a long time. Lance and i started talking about bridge stuff. The flurries turned into rain, and i felt confidant we were ahead of the storm.
Until we got to Tennessee. Um… are we supposed to be in Tennessee?
It turns out that i needed to take an exit in order to stay on 77 North, an exit near Wytheville, VA. But i had tuned out once i thought i was on the right road, and wasn’t looking at the street signs. I drove a full 70 miles SOUTH on the wrong road, I-81. I am such a fucking idiot.
We turned around. It had taken approximately one hour to get from Wytheville to
Tennessee. It took two and a half hours to get back. The storm had come. What a huge difference an hour or so made. What had formerly been rain was snow snow snow. The roads were already caking up with snow, and traffic moved at about 20 miles per hour. [In retrospect, we probably could have avoided the storm by driving further west into Tennessee and coming up into Ohio from the southwest. Oh well.]
We FINALLY got back to Wytheville around 4ish. I got off of the stupid-ass wrong road i had been on and got onto 77 North. Yes!
As we began to merge onto 77, it was apparent that none of the cars were moving. Everyone was at a dead standstill. People were out of the cars and walking around. Dogs were playing in the snow.
So we sat. We found out from someone stretching his legs that a tunnel five miles ahead had been blocked by a jack-knifed 18-wheeler. We sat some more. Called the parents. Sat. Moved a few feet. Sat. Got out to stretch the legs, brush off the car, de-ice the windshield wipers. Watched little snow drifts form around the tires of the car in front of me. Watched the snow come down while it got dark.
Around 6:30, the guy in front of me started walking from car to car. He came to us and asked for jumper cables. He had turned his car off to save gas and now couldn’t start it again. As it happens, i had some cables in my trunk. He borrowed them, and the people around us played musical cars in order to get another guy close enough to him to jump him.
There was an exit close enough to us that i thought i could get to it. Musical cars had rearranged the cars on the road such that i thought i could squeeze through and get over to the off-ramp. It wasn’t possible before or we would have done it. (Plus at this point we had given up hope of getting to Ohio.) I asked the cars nearby to let me try, and they did. Score! We made it off the godforsaken highway.
Let me just take a moment to say, i had done an excellent job driving, if i do say so myself.
The signs on the exit ramp showed a TON of hotels on this exit. Score again! We stopped at the first one we found. No rooms. Went to the next one. No rooms. And the next and the next. A half dozen hotels were full. Plus, the conditions were getting much worse. Now i had to brush off the car and de-ice the wipers at every hotel stop, and drive with the windows down in order to see.
So we resigned ourselves to the fact that we might be sleeping in the car. We pulled into a big truck stop. It was so big it was almost a mall. Several restaurants. We sat down and ate some food, and (thankfully) used the restrooms. I made friends with someone who worked there who tried to find me a room at one of the hotels. Alas, no luck.
I got my parents looking for us also. They were snowed-in in Asheville and had no power, but they were still trying to help us. Dad was suggesting we drive south for like 30 miles and he knew we’d find some places. Um, yeah, if we make it that far. My mom finally found a neat service, called Virgina Hotels. Apparently you just call them up and they will find you the nearest hotel and make a reservation for you. Mom had talked to them and found a hotel room for us that was supposedly just a mile down the highway, at a Best Western. She didn’t make the reservation for us, but encouraged me to call back and talk to them myself.
We had some frustration at this point. Lance was pretty against going back out on the roads. I was hating the idea of staying at the truck stop, which didn’t have any place to just SIT. Sleeping in the car sounded awful to me. But staying safe and not getting in a wreck were also important points.
We had been at the truck stop for almost 2 hours by this time. It was a veritable blizzard out there. I stared out the window and watched a few cars pull in. I watched while another guy as he brushed off his car and pulled away. Someone took his spot. People were driving out there! I reasoned to myself that i had been very careful, driving in the lowest gear, and goddammit i could get us to a hotel safely if there was a reasonably close room.
I called the Virgina Hotels service to see what they had. I don’t think Lance was particularly happy about it, but i figured hey, it’s at least another data point. We can see what’s available, and if we can get there, it would be better than the truck stop.
I spoke with a very efficient representative with a very annoying voice. But she got the job done. She said she had several rooms available. I told her the address of where we were and had her find the closest room. It was at that Best Western my mom had found earlier. I booked it. Sunk cost of only $80 if we couldn’t get there or decided not to go.
Called the Best Western and spoke to a very friendly and helpful person at the hotel who is from Wytheville and knew exactly where i was. She gave me “female” directions, which means she gave me landmarks instead of street names. But frankly, i don’t think we could have read the street signs in this blizzard! It wasn’t far, less than two miles. I also made sure to confirm my reservation with her before we got in the car.
I saw hope in Lance’s eyes. Or at least, he was willing to let me try. We went out to the car and stared in amazement at the blob of white where my car used to be. At least 4 inches had fallen since we’d been at the truck stop. We commenced brushing off the car, both of us getting soaking wet. Then came the difficult task of getting out of my parking space, since i was sort of in a snow drift and my tires were spinning. I employed the “rocking” technique of moving forward then back. Lance pushed. The car eventually slipped out of the spot, and we were back on the road!
We drove slowly and carefully, following the landmarks that we had been given. The hotel was really not far from the highway, but was somewhat hidden down a back road and behind some other hotels, which is i guess why the other stranded travelers hadn’t found it. We got there safely, and checked in 12 hours after we left Raleigh. As a bonus after all this, they offered free Wi-Fi. Finally, a break! Lance was extremely pleased about that.
So, we’re not going to make it to Ohio. I’m sorry, Mom! We did want to be there for your birthday dinner. If i wasn’t such an idiot, if only i had noticed we were going the wrong way… but, i didn’t. We went on a little adventure, instead. I’m just glad we’re safe.
We might wait it out here for another day, too. There is at least a foot of snow on the ground, and it’s still blizzarding out there.
If you stuck around this long, thanks for reading. It’s been a helluva day.
Allow me to formally introduce my brother, Nathan. He is younger than me by four and a half years. He did his undergraduate degree in music at UNC, so we had a few years of friendly rivalry since i went to NC State. He is currently working as a chaplain in a hospital near Arden, NC. He has two beautiful dogs, Lola and Dakota, who romp and play with Nugent whenever they get together. Nathan and his wife, Heather, are two of my favorite people.
