Dad came to visit! Dana picked dad up and immediately drove to Winter Park, where we met them to ski! It wasn't the prettiest ski day, but it was still an awesome ski day! Thursday, we went to the Sabres v Avalanche game. Brandon and I were randomly talking about how cool it would be to go to a Sabres game in Denver, then we realized there was one while Dad was here! The game started, and within seconds the Sabres scored! We knew this was going to be a great time. We ended up with a Sabres win, and almost a fight heading out chanting for Buffalo. Friday was another ski day. I (Andrea) stayed back with Bruce because I wasn't feeling 100%, and because of that I missed an epic ski day. Dad, Dana, Brandon, and Alanna had stellar weather, and awesome snow. Bruce and I hung out and took naps. Saturday was pierogi day! It was also Alanna's testing for Roller Derby. She is officially part of the advanced group! We made 6 doughs and filled them with farmer's cheese, potato bacon cheese, and dad's homemade sauerkraut. Dana had some friends come by to help with the pierogi making process. We had an assembly line, and we were very efficient. Grandma would have been proud! After pierogi's we made our way to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Bills Vs Dolphins game. Another win for Buffalo! Sunday, we ate pierogi's, potato pancakes, and ninja bread cookies baked by Alanna. We played cards, had laughs, and ate way too much. It was great!
Dad was leaving Monday, and so were we. Brandon has been hired at Park City Utah Ski Resort as part of the Mountain Safety Team, so we had to go to Utah for his orientation. We (Brandon, Alanna, Me, and Bruce) got to Park City around 3pm on Monday and settled into the hotel. Brandon had to be to work by 8am Tuesday, and then we were anticipating leaving early Wednesday to beat the oncoming storm. Plans changed, and we were not able to leave until Brandon was done working Wednesday at 1pm. We were still hopeful this would allow us to get home in the standard 7 hours, but that was not the case. We ended up getting caught in the winter storm, and it was the scariest storm I have been in. The route home had multiple closures. It didn't help that there were the only two ways home. We were routed off the i80, then back on, then off, then on. We had been driving for seven hours and seen multiple vehicles off the side of the road. At one point there were about 18+ vehicles, including 18-wheelers all in an accident. Big rigs were spun out, it was a mess. We decided that we needed to get off the road, but the i80 is a road that goes through the middle of nowhere Wyoming and finding a hotel room was difficult. On top of the fact that any hotels that were fairly close were full because everyone was getting off the road. It was a challenge, but we found a room at a Comfort Inn. We got all settled in the room and attempted to relax, but we had to worry about the bitter cold, -20-degree temps, and having our truck start in the morning. Owning a diesel vehicle has its challenges, and I don't' just mean at the pump ($$). When the weather is exceptionally cold diesel engines will have trouble starting, if they start at all. So, to make sure we would be able to leave in the morning, we had to make sure our truck stayed warm. The only way we knew how to do that was by going out and starting it every two hours... in -20-degree weather. It worked! There were many diesel trucks that couldn't start Thursday morning. We woke up Thursday to the only two routes home still being closed, and an estimation of opening in the next 10-18 hours. Some people left and risked it, we were not willing to do that, so we stayed in Wyoming another night. During this time the temperatures back in CO were dropping as the storm was now there. We prepared the RV to be gone for the three days, but obviously that changed. Luckily our neighbors were there and were able to fill our propane tanks to make sure our RV didn't drop to freezing temperatures. If it weren't for them, Socks an Alfred would have been frozen, along with all of our pipes.
Thursday night we once again had to keep the truck warm so Friday we could come home. Brandon and I took turns going out and running the truck. Friday morning the sun came up, and we were on the road home! The drive was fairly uneventful. There was the occasional snow drift and slick spot, but Brandon got us home safe and sound. Once home we realized our water was not working. The filter on our hose was frozen, so we took it off, brought it in, and got it unfrozen. We now have running water, but only to the master bathroom. The kitchen sink and Alanna's bathroom do not have water yet. The pipes must be frozen. We went and got some chicken cook heater lamps and set them up under the RV in those areas in hopes that the pipes will thaw. We also found out that our truck has an engine block heater! So instead of losing sleep and freezing, we could have just plugged it in and kept it warm at night.
Things we learned:
- Buffalo NY is phenomenal at clearing the roads during a snowstorm; other states are terrible
- We have an engine block heater!
- The i80 is insane. We knew that from our trip to Wyoming last month, but this was even crazier.
- Rawlins Wyoming is a tiny town with a really good hibachi restaurant.
