Long, icy store-run

Well, we're home and safe. Only got stuck once. That was the first try to get out of the neighborhood, on the "four mile dip". That dip is basically a big "U", but the sides aren't straight up and down, obviously. One side is longer, but the other side has a curve at the top right before you get to another road you have to turn onto. Anyway, on the way out we got down the long side but got stuck on the up side. Had to back down and hope we wouldn't slide into the ditch (almost did), plus there was a car that had been parked at the bottom off to the side which had to be avoided. While sitting there trying to decide what to do since we were sideways in the road, we saw a pickup at the top that we couldn't get to. We were just hoping he didn't try to come down and slide into us, because the road was solid ice with snow on the sides. Luckily, he stopped at the top 'just in case' someone was stuck. Guess he knows the road. *grin* Anyway, he walked down to see if he could help. He tried to push the back sideways, didn't work. Tried the same with the front, thinking that we could maybe spin it around, with no luck. Finally, he decided to get the shovel out of his truck and see if he could chip enough of the ice from under the van's back tires so we could get a little traction. That worked enough and we were eventually able to get the van spun around so we could try to get out the other direction (back the way we had came). Meanwhile, the kids stayed in the van keeping warm while Rain and I talked with our helper. Rain was out of cigarettes, our helper didn't have any either because he was on his way to get some money so he could get some. So, he and Rain were both a little 'edgy'. Okay, so we got going the other way. The hill we needed to get back up had dryish tracks about halfway up, so if I could get going fast enough we would be able to get up the hill. So, I got going as fast as I could, rounded the corner to head up the hill only to see a truck with a plow coming down the hill. Damn! The road isn't wide enough for two big vehicles. *sigh* I had to back down far enough and pull as much to the side as I could so he could get by us, which obviously I was able to, but not without a bit of stress. Got going again and made it up the hill and drove back home on the ice that didn't have *any* salt or sand on it for traction. Apparently the road crews of MO weren't too worried since most of the schools were closed anyway, so the busses wouldn't be traveling on the road anytime soon. Needless to say, I had a wife who was NOT happy that the roads were still icy and no one had worked on them since Thursday, and she had been out of smokes since last night and was shaking because of the road condition and the fact that we were in a van without snow tires, and has a flaky front-end & brakes that cause it to pull to the side when they're pushed. *sigh* Did I mention that we almost got stuck in our driveway at the beginning of all this? Well, we did. Got back to our driveway and parked. Rain went and got some rock salt 'just in case' we needed it, while I went to the shed and grabbed a shovel and a few small sand bags that people put in their trunks or the back of pickups for weight. We *had* to get out because we were *completely* out of cat food and they were starting to snap at each other and drive us crazy. Rain said if it wasn't for that, she probably could've lived without the cigarettes for a few days (but could the rest of us? is the question). We thought that once we got to the other end of our road (2.5 miles from our driveway) that the highway would be better. It was a *little* better, but it was *mostly* still ice, packed snow, and slush. Didn't look like they had put much sand or salt on that highway either, but I think enough cars & trucks had used it that it had clearer patches. Once we got to the main highway (after 5 miles of icy road), it was clear, so instead of going to Lebanon like we had planned, we decided to just go to Buffalo, which is 10 miles closer. There's a small Wal-Mart that carries the cat food our cats can eat w/o getting sick, a grocery store that has things that're more expensive then the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lebanon, and there's a cigarette store and gas station. We stopped at the cigarette store first, of course. *grin* While there we got 20 dollars of gas. On the way into town we had noticed that all the stations gas prices had gone up to $2.14.9. *sigh* Last time we were there (Wednesday) it was $2.04.9. We decided not to go to Lebanon so that we could be back home before the sun went down and the roads refroze. We still need a bunch of food, but we got some essentials that'll carry us through until the end of the week. YAY!

Technorati : MODOT, buffalo, lebanon, missouri roads