This has been the craziest day ever! If you don’t need to go out in the snow, by all means–stay home!
It was my day to drive our preschool carpool today. I pick up two of John’s friends and take them to American Fork for preschool. I loaded John up in the car and got going, even though I could barely see past my driveway. Usually when things look really bad here in my neighborhood, they are better once I get out on the main roads. Not so, today. I picked up my two little carpoolees amid gale force winds that blew snow into the car even while I was just opening the door. I made it out onto the main road and could barely see 10 feet ahead of me. I turned on my lights, and eventually turned on my emergency blinkers, just in case there was someone sneaking up behind me. My back windshield wiper, which has been only halfway working for months, got totally wonked out and the little wiper blade was turned sideways and not doing any good at all. I figured I wouldn’t be able to see our turn-off street, so I went a little bit around (also to avoid streets without four way stops). I got the kids there only 10 minutes late, and turned around to begin my trek back home. It only took me twice as long as normal.
Then, an hour later, I had to venture out again to pick up Cole and crew, as his normal carpool driver couldn’t do it. –We have a sweet neighbor who drives her 15 passenger van twice a day to take the jr high kids to and from school, and we each pay her $10 a month. Absolutely worth every penny!–As I headed up the hill into Alpine, there were two cars stopped ahead of me. I didn’t know if there had been an accident or what, but they I couldn’t really go around them, so I stopped, too. As did the car in back of me. And the 15 or so cars in back of them. After about 5 minutes of wondering what was going on here, the car in front of me backed up, and turned around. A girl got out of the truck that was stuck and motioned for me to go around her. Oh, if only I could. I spun those wheels and really tried to go forward, but really, I wasn’t going anywhere. A bunch of high school kids hopped out and tried to push the original stuck car, and I tried to spin out and go a little bit forward. Not gonna happen. The car in back of me backed up and turned around. I tried reverse, which actually worked, since it was downhill. So, eventually, I got myself turned around and back down the hill. In the midst of this, I called my friend who was splitting the carpool detail with me (because it takes two regular vans to replace a 15 passenger van) and asked if she could cram all the kids into her van, since I wasn’t getting up over the hill today. Ugh.
I made it back home, and found that my stomach was in knots from the stress of driving.
As I was pondering how I was going to make it in another hour to pick up John, my friend Lisa called me. She had to go down that way to pick something up, so she would get the boys from preschool if I could pick up her girls from school. Seems they had grounded all buses and the parents had to pick up their kids. GREAT. So, I threw on my boots and went out again to go and get my girls and her girls from the elementary school. Ring Ring! It’s my neighbor telling me that police have closed the main road and I should go the other way by the city office. OK, so I went the roundabout way. As I got by the other Junior High, what do I see, but buses coming out. And a whole lot of cars. Major traffic jam. I eventually get to the kids’ elementary school, and I don’t see huge lines of cars there as I had anticipated. I am 10 minutes later than I thought I would be, after all, but I wonder where all the moms are. I call into the school, and the secretary tells me that the buses did take off about 5 minutes ago.
So, then I have to hope I can still beat my kids home, so they won’t have to trudge around the house to get in and have more reason to complain to me. I did indeed beat them home, and hat water heating for the required hot chocolate by the time they got home.
What an exhausting and crazy day. I did a lot of driving for not a lot of good. A lot of “spinning my wheels” as it were. Now, I’m just going to stay home. Never to leave my house again. At least it’s stopped snowing and the wind isn’t currently blowing.
(I’ve decided to enter this post in the “travhell” contest going on at ..and the pursuit of happiness Even though it’s not much of a “travel story”, the frustration level is there, don’t you think? 
Sounds to me like your story could qualify for a very bad day! I’m glad you didn’t get in an accident. We cancelled all our plans for today and just stayed home and off the roads. We were planning to drive out to South Jordan this afternoon and Stansbury Park tonight. I think its good we CX’d. Do your kids know of your untiring devotion for them in trying to be their chauffeur?
Oh my goodness! That would put me over the edge with stress. We had a snowtire ordeal here a few weeks ago, I couldn’t drive the 2 blocks to my DS’s school, but it was too cold to walk. $500 later and I can drive my car again.
I was lucky enough to only need to drive up and down the street yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to do it 6 separate times! That was some crazy horizontal blowing ice! Plus Braeden came home 45 minutes late due to the bus fiasco and the traffic lights in PG being out.
I’m so sorry!!