Our road ramps up to Clairmont, so navigating the hill to leave the neighborhood was tricky. We watched people try over and over until they got out or gave up and went home. We had seen what worked and what didn't. The method that had the highest success rate was if the vehicle started their approach from sixty or so feet from the intersection of our road with Clairmont. This method only worked if you had a spotter stand on Clairmont and watch for oncoming vehicles. This wasn't a big problem since very few people were out and about, so traffic was very light. The spotter would motion for the person to "Come on!" when no vehicles could be seen on Clairmont. The vehicle would quickly, but safely, begin moving. If you got some momentum going, then usually you could get out in one try.
We took Justin's car to Moe's, so I was the spotter. It took several tries because he would lose traction on the sheet of ice that was our road shortly after moving and then a car would be spotted on Clairmont. He would have to back up and wait until I gave the signal to come. This was a lot of fun for me since it was sleeting while I stood in the road. I finally gave the signal and Justin made it up the hill and onto Clairmont. It was kind of funny because once I realized he was going to make it out, I moved out of his way. A ridge of ice had formed in the middle of Clairmont so he had to get over that. He did, but kept going until he found an area he could safely stop on. I was chasing him down Clairmont trying to get into the car. I don't know what it looked like, but I felt pretty ridiculous. Lots of fun.
I went to work Wednesday morning at eleven o'clock. I left the house at ten so I could make sure I got there on time. There weren't many vehicles out, which was good for me. One of the roads I take to work has a deep valley in the middle of it. That was the one area I was somewhat concerned about. The other roads I take are multi-lane roads, so those weren't bad since they had been traveled on by other drivers so there were sort of clear paths on them. I did discover that I didn't lose traction as much if I moved at a steady pace. I didn't drive fifty miles per hour or anything like that, but going ten miles per hour while trying to go up a big hill wasn't going to work. The big 4x4 truck in front of me chickened out at the big hill. He turned around, which made me happy since he had driven five miles per hour up until that point. I put my car in second gear and went right up the hill. The vehicles behind me came, too. Front wheel drive cars of the world unite! I made it to work in about thirty-five minutes which is only fifteen minutes more than my usual commute. Yay me! It wasn't my speed, but the lack of traffic. I promise. The roads really were dangerous, so I was very careful.
Our parking lot was clear at work, but the area around the building was still covered in ice. Honestly, walking across that scared me more than driving to work. My thigh muscles got a work out that day since I would tighten my legs when I started sliding on the ice. I only heard of two people falling on the ice in the parking lot, but neither worked in our office and they both fell on Thursday morning. We got to leave work Wednesday through Friday at four since they didn't want us driving in the dark. Everything is now pretty much back to normal. There are still some muddy spots in some roads, but these are very few.
Our backyard:
Pete and Annabelle like to hang out by the gate because they can see under it. Luckily, the ground beneath the gate is concrete, so they can't burrow under it.
Pete is happy about something.
Annabelle looks so pensive.
Stinky Pete is carefully navigating the ice and snow.
Anne is ready to go inside. They usually get a treat, so she's licking her lips.
Justin filmed this video with my photo camera on Wednesday in the back yard. We were heavy enough to break through most of the ice when we stepped, but the dogs weren't. There were a few spots that didn't have ice and those really slowed down the dogs when they stepped on them.
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