I took my test as quickly as I could and managed to finish at about 9:15. By that time there was a good 3 or 4 inches on the ground and the storm was definitely intensifying! So I hurried back to our apartment to tell Erika we should scrap our idea of selling our books back and just pack up and leave as soon as possible.
We headed out on Highway 36 at about 10:15 under gusting winds with about 1/4 to 1/8 mile visiblity and managed to go about 25 or 30 miles an hour for the first leg of the journey. We passed several accidents mostly just people who had slid off the road in some way, but we did pass a few collisions as well. When we stopped for gas in Broomfield off of Wadsworth things began to get interesting! While 36 was managable the side roads were a nightmare. What was once a three lane road had been reduced to about a lane and a half of very slippery road with horrible visibility. I very nearly got stuck in the parking lot of the Shell station, but luckly my trusty 91 Honda was up to the challenge and we headed back to 36. Unfortunately a large red Chevrolet driven by one of those "I drive a truck and therefore I am a driving god amongst mere mortals and can drive through anything" types had managed to get himself stuck on the eastbound on-ramp for 36. After about 5 minutes he was able to rock himself out and Erika and I were able to follow and make our way back on the highway.
The journey home was the most stressful 3 1/2 hour 50 mile stretch of road I have ever driven. I was nearly rear ended several times, and became an expert in controlling fish tails by the time we were passing Denver on I-25. I have never been more frightened of semi trucks as I was when I wasn't entirely sure if I would be able to maintain my lane or that the trucks would maintain thiers. When passing through downtown, the visibility was so poor as to not be able to see Invesco Field from I-25, which lies a mere few hundred feet from the road!
Aparently we may have been some of the last people to successfully make it through Highway 36 as by early afternoon, hundreds of motorists were stranded and the Colorado National Guard was mobilized to rescue stranded motorists on the highway!
I finally made slid onto Mercury Drive and home at just past a quarter to 2 in the afternoon and settled in for the big one!
Our snow measuring system! 6 Cans by 8pm!
My car buried in the twilight
Our house with the mirror of my car just visible
Rocky maneuvering down the path to the hot tub
Our only good snow shovel moments before it broke under pressure of some guy leaning on it
I decided to guard my car in case someone decided to use the chaos of the storm to try to steal it
Our house viewed from the backyard
The deck
Success! We finally escaped!
The remnants of the Safeway parking lot
The vast selection of milk available at Safeway
The all mighty red hand warns people not to walk into the snow drift
These folks didn't quite make it to King Soopers
We decided we needed some reason to brave the roads go to King Soopers... We settled on $1.00 worth of Christmas Tree Icicles.
We wound up with 2 feet of snow in Denver and most of the greater metro area and 3 feet in Boulder and the front range!
People have begun digging out and they skies are finally clear! DIA should re open tomorrow at noon and they have finally lifed the state of emergency. Hopefully they'll be able to get all the stranded folks home soon! We are cozy in our house with a warm fire roaring and I'm preparing to head out to the hot tub! I'm just lucky I made it!
Happy First Day of Winter!
