Update for the last post
I like to regale people with tales of Barrow and then say that it really isn't that bad.
Today, it was that bad.
I got stuck in a snow drift because the wind was going so hard I couldn't tell blowing snow from stationary snow. Just ran right into it. Felt kind of stupid, but I walked back to my house to call for some help. About an hour later, a help came and after a few tries, got me out. (now that I'm thinking about it though, I don't think I got my tow rope back from him...) However, then I had a new problem. I didn't know where I was. He had pulled me past the intersection I meant to turn on and I still couldn't see anything. I ended up passing it and going down a whole other road and almost getting stuck again. And that freaked me out. Disorientation is scarier than it sounds.
I couldn't see out the windshield, so I had to roll down the window, which meant I was being pelted with snow and ice and debris and I could only see a little ahead of the car and the looming shapes of houses around me weren't familiar. Where the hell was I?? Where had that strange man dragged me with my own tow rope before disappearing into the storm? I couldn't tell. I couldn't see! I was afraid to get stuck again and I couldn't see to keep from getting stuck again.And I'll admit, I was starting to panic.
If anyone tells you they saw some crazy gibbering person with their head stuck out the window driving through a snowstorm on Ahmoagak Street, it could've been me.
So I stopped and I got out and staggered through the snow and wind to get to the nearest house. All the lights were out and I didn't see a house number. How could they not have a house number?? So I lurched on to the next and then I saw a stop sign. Over it, was a street sigh. Hallelujah. I was around the corner and three houses from home. (Right next to where I had gotten stuck the first time.) I just had to get the truck there. By now I'm soaked from all the snow plastered on me, but I ran back to the truck, started praying, and hit the gas.
I made it back through that first drift, almost passed the intersection again, but swerved into it anyway, almost got stuck in another drift, and then almost couldn't get into my own driveway because a new drift had formed over it while I was gone. But I made it.
Meanwhile, my front door had blown open again and there was another inch or so of snow on the floor there, but I was sniveling and hysterical by that point and had to calm down before I could care about anything else. I called work and said I would not be in after all. I'm pretty sure I'm lucky to have made it home at all.
Today, it was that bad.
I got stuck in a snow drift because the wind was going so hard I couldn't tell blowing snow from stationary snow. Just ran right into it. Felt kind of stupid, but I walked back to my house to call for some help. About an hour later, a help came and after a few tries, got me out. (now that I'm thinking about it though, I don't think I got my tow rope back from him...) However, then I had a new problem. I didn't know where I was. He had pulled me past the intersection I meant to turn on and I still couldn't see anything. I ended up passing it and going down a whole other road and almost getting stuck again. And that freaked me out. Disorientation is scarier than it sounds.
I couldn't see out the windshield, so I had to roll down the window, which meant I was being pelted with snow and ice and debris and I could only see a little ahead of the car and the looming shapes of houses around me weren't familiar. Where the hell was I?? Where had that strange man dragged me with my own tow rope before disappearing into the storm? I couldn't tell. I couldn't see! I was afraid to get stuck again and I couldn't see to keep from getting stuck again.And I'll admit, I was starting to panic.
If anyone tells you they saw some crazy gibbering person with their head stuck out the window driving through a snowstorm on Ahmoagak Street, it could've been me.
So I stopped and I got out and staggered through the snow and wind to get to the nearest house. All the lights were out and I didn't see a house number. How could they not have a house number?? So I lurched on to the next and then I saw a stop sign. Over it, was a street sigh. Hallelujah. I was around the corner and three houses from home. (Right next to where I had gotten stuck the first time.) I just had to get the truck there. By now I'm soaked from all the snow plastered on me, but I ran back to the truck, started praying, and hit the gas.
I made it back through that first drift, almost passed the intersection again, but swerved into it anyway, almost got stuck in another drift, and then almost couldn't get into my own driveway because a new drift had formed over it while I was gone. But I made it.
Meanwhile, my front door had blown open again and there was another inch or so of snow on the floor there, but I was sniveling and hysterical by that point and had to calm down before I could care about anything else. I called work and said I would not be in after all. I'm pretty sure I'm lucky to have made it home at all.