The Blizzard of 2011

I got nothing!!

The week started out with my basking in the glow of Sunshine. It was 70 degrees when I left the house. It remained 70 degrees throughout my trek on Sunday. What a time to find out that the truck AC was not functioning properly. What an even more incredibly amazing time to discover that in my haste that morning, I had forgotten to apply deodorant. Oh well, it is much better to find these things out in the middle of winter, rather than sitting in Miami slow roasting in July.

The temperature began to drop as I made my way towards Baltimore. In fact, it was in the low 20s when I awoke Monday morning. While the truck was parked inside, I found myself wandering about outside actually watching the ice begin to melt. Talk about exciting!! But I also noticed it was trying to snow. TRYING... halfheartedly!

I finished up in Baltimore around 10 am, and with only 2 stops left on the trailer it should have been a piece of cake. However, my next 2 stops were Philly and a little town about half way out on Long Island. I could have made the Philly drop and been on my way by 1pm, but that would only leave the 3 hours to make Hauppage. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Less than 100 miles in 3 hours, but this is New York. Expect the unexpected and be grateful if traffic is moving at all. I checked local traffic reports and the George Washington crossing looked to be backed up all the way through the Bronx. The lower crossing into Staten Island looked better but it appeared everyone in Brooklyn was sitting still. I decided to blow past Philly to ensure I had time to make the New York delivery.

Executive decision made, I crossed at the OuterBridge and began the slow crawl towards the Island. It took 2.5 hours to travel 60 miles and construction was mostly to blame. However, I did creep past a Big Truck that had lost two wheels. Yeah, that was the unexpected that I was expecting! Having still felt no fury from Mother Nature myself, I was reminded of her presence by the large amounts of snow pushed into piles at the edges of roadways and parking lots. In fact, my customer had lost nearly half of their lot due to heaps of snow. This makes for a good time when the lot is barely large enough to turn around in during the summer, much less with the encroaching 5' snowbanks.

My decision did pay off, and I was unloaded and back on my merry way to Philadelphia by 6pm. I would have left sooner, but by the time I got unloaded there were 2 more local trucks in the lot, and absolutely no way for me to vacate the premises. And even when I was finally able to exit, I think I brought half the snow bank with me out into the road.

Bedding down for the night just northeast of Philadelphia, I was once again alerted to the storms rapid advancement. Hearing everything up to 12", I was mildly anxious of my return journey home with the empty trailer. But when I awoke in the morning, there was barely a dusting.

As I made my way south, there was a little bit of a flurry for about 100 miles. I made my way through Maryland and DC with no backups or delays. And no snow! By the time I hit Virginia, it was warming up nicely. In fact, while much of the Country was feeling the onslaught of Mother Nature's frigid fury, I was once again basking in the glow of warmth.

The only advisable road conditions I witnessed....

CAUTION: Mowers Ahead

But I am sure my time will come, and until then... I will just keep knock knock knocking on Heaven's Door. Or at least on this here trusty piece of wood.