Our first taste of snow was driving home after dinner one night and it had just started snowing. As this was the first time we'd seen snow here, it was a bit nerve wracking to say the least. Now that I have seen what "real" snow is like - I was panicking about driving in what could barely be classified as a flurry! But hey - first time driving in snow, on unfamiliar roads etc - you can't blame me for being cautious!
A few days later we were told to expect a "big snowstorm", so we thought it wise to not venture out from the hotel - would be a bit embarrassing to make headline news our first week here for getting stranded somewhere in a blizzard when there had been plenty of warnings! So we sat by the window, waiting for the snowstorm....waiting....waiting.....By 3pm we were all getting a touch of cabin fever and desperate to get out. The sky was still clear, there hadn't even been a flurry! So we figured the storm must have passed by and everyone had panicked for no good reason. So we piled into the car to do some more exploring. We planned to go to a furniture store first, then drive to the next town over to try out some Taco Bell - a mere 20km away, so it had better be worth the trip!
The furniture store took a bit longer than expected - mainly because of the idiot salesman who was treating me like a moron (thats another story for another day i think!). We came out of the store an hour later and we all commented how the sky looked a bit funny. Now, if I had been back home - I would have thought hmm, the sky doesn't look right, lets head for shelter. But alas, we're not at home, we're in Canada, where everything is different, so I took the approach of hmmm, the sky doesn't look right, how odd, oh well, in the car and off to Taco Bell we go!
We hadn't even gotten 5 minutes down the highway before I realised that "strange" sky was the freaken snowstorm we'd been waiting for all day! And we were now driving directly into it! The snow was coming down so heavy the roads were totally white - I couldn't even see the lane markings! My saving grace was a truck infront of me, so I just followed his tyre tracks the whole way until our turn off. Now the real dilemma - do we eat at Taco Bell and hope the storm passes so we can get home safely, or do we head straight back in case it gets worse and we're stranded at Taco Bell until the morning. We decided to head back. By this time, the snow was even worse, and likewise, the road worse too - couldn't even see the road at all! And no truck to ghost this time. We took our time and drove carefully back into Truro. Which led to dilemma number 2 - I *had* to stop at wal-mart to get us all some winter boots. I had been out the day before in sneakers, and they were soaked through from all the snow, and so I had nothing for my feet. Plus the wal-mart was at the turn off from the highway, so I had intended to stop on our way home anyway (before all this palava with the snow). Hell, I figured we'd done ok so far getting to Taco Bell and home again, what would a bit longer out in this weather matter - so we headed in to wal-mart.
Of course, it wasn't as simple as quickly running in, grabbing boots, and out again - we took forever. Plus we then had to look at everything else, and before we knew it, we'd spent over an hour in the store. And we only left then because Emily wisely pointed out that if we stayed any longer, with the snow the way it was, the car would most likely be buried by now.
So we quickly made our way through the checkouts, headed for the door and ............
.......stopped. If you could have seen the look on our faces! I turned to Emily and said 'ummm...where has all the snow gone?'
The carpark was as clean as a whistle - not a flake of snow to be seen anywhere! It was the oddest thing I've ever seen - I think it had rained a little bit at the end of the snow, and melted it all away! Very very weird......
Which brings me to the BIG snowstorm we had last week!
I was at work, and had been told there was a big snowstorm coming through that afternoon - around 30cm of snow predicted. I was a bit disappointed - 30cm doesn't seem like very much - doesn't sound as impressive as a few METRES of snow!
Anyway, just after lunch I looked out the window and saw that it had started snowing. So I turned to a collegue and said - look, its snowing! How cool!! She looked at me like I was completely mad and said, its nothing to get excited about! Hmph.
Over the next few hours, I kept gazing at the pretty snowflakes coming down, while around me everyone is worrying about how they're going to get home, if the next shift will be able to get in, who will stay if they can't etc etc etc - they were being such worry warts! Just below the window is the roof for the entrance way, which has a chimney thing and an air vent on it. I said wouldn't it be funny if that whole roof filled in with snow by the end of the shift! Which again earned me a few annoyed looks. I think when I made the comment about how pretty the snow was, and it was like being in the middle of a snowglobe - hmm, yeah, I think it was about then that a few of them were seriously contemplating murder! :)
It wasn't until around 6pm that I looked out the window and noticed that the whole roof below had indeed now totally filled in - you could only see a round circle where the chimney thingy used to be! It was about then that I suddenly clicked and went "OMG - is THIS the big storm you're all talking about???" There was silence in the room. Someone looked at me and said - are you serious?? What do you think you've been looking at the past 6 hours? Ummm...snow? LOL I had to explain - in Queensland, when they say there is a big storm coming through, you get a dark sky, thunder, lightning, rain, wind - truely loud, stormy weather! So it hadn't dawned on me that a snowstorm is actually quiet and just snow that never stops!
I have now been educated in snowstorms - when they say there is a snow storm coming, expect snow. Lots of it. Not necessarily bad weather - that would be a blizzard. Just a ton of snow. Ok, got it.
I looked back out the window again, and realised you can't even see the streets. This was worse than the trip to Taco Bell! God, how was I going to walk home in this? And I didn't want to beg anyone for a ride home - it was going to be hard enough for them to get to their *own* house! Thankfully one of the nurses was going to pick her daughter up from the babysitters, only a block from where I live, so I asked her for a ride - didn't have to be all the way home, even part of the way was better than nothing! She said not a problem - she'd be going the long way past my house anyway because the other way was too steep up the hill and most likely wouldn't have been plowed yet anyway.
We finished our shift and went out to the carpark - all the cars were buried - we had to dig the car out. It was very fun - the snow was so light and fluffy! So I'm still bouncing around, commenting how cool it was. I think she was wanting to hit me over the head with the ice scraper. I did refrain from taking a photo - I thought that might be pushing my luck! We got the car uncovered, and began the slow drive home. The plows had given up the fight, and none of the main streets had been done in a few hours, so the roads were very slippery with a few inches of snow. Going up my street was even worse - we were driving in the middle of the road as that was the only bit that had the least amount of snow on it! When we got to my house, I got her to just stop the car right there in the middle of the road for me to jump out - I had a feeling if she tried to turn into the drive, or pull to the side, she'd be stuck there, it was that bad! I'm just thankful I didn't have to walk home in it all!
I got home to find the kids enjoying the snow, sledding down the hill and making snow forts! In all, we got about 40cm of snow that day -
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