The Wilds, day 4

Thursday started out pretty much like Tuesday & Wednesday but took a much different turn in the afternoon. Around lunch time we were wondering if the coming weather would make it unsafe for us to travel home on Friday morning and debated whether it would be better to leave Thursday night after session. Several people seemed to indicate waiting would be fine and so we just continued our plans.

Erin and I were packing a few things up and organizing stuff for the big squeeze back into the car and I paused briefly to go get something. My phone doesn't get reception in the cabin so when I got to the car I usually get a few texts come through and one was some very good advice on leaving tonight rather than waiting for the mountain roads to be covered with snow and ice. I called Mom and she seemed in agreement and so I headed back to the cabin to discuss it with Erin but she met me on the way having just got off the phone with her mom. This was enough confirmation for me so we finished packing things up only for real and contacted our people in Atlanta to let them know we'd be coming back early.

We took all our stuff out to the car and this time I was determined to get more packed into the trunk so we'd have less around our feet. It was probably quite hilarious to watch but I actually climbed in the trunk at one point and shoved my sleeping bag into a back corner by my suitcase with my feet. Something worked because everyone agreed we got a LOT more in the trunk this time. :) We were pretty excited about it. Oh the little things. ;)

At dinner I briefly began to doubt our decision to leave when one of the guys at the table we were at indicated the forecast had changed again and we would no longer be having the same kind of snow and ice as previously forecasted. At this point we had everything packed into the car though and I felt like there was no reason to unpack it but was feeling a little sorry for having gone to all the effort. There were little snow flurries all afternoon but they were barely visible and none had accumulated yet.

After dinner we had a reading session and then there was a twenty minute break before the evening session. During this break I walked out to the foyer and Erin said "come and see Megan the snow is starting to stick and it's so pretty!" I went outside and was just a little concerned at what I found. The snow was sticking but there also seemed to be a thin layer of ice forming. When we walked across it the snow didn't leave footprints because it was already icy. Erin and I both had the same idea that perhaps we should leave now or we wouldn't be able to leave at all tonight. We were afraid if we waited much longer the ice would only get thicker and the mountain roads would be very treacherous.

We piled in the car, Angie prayed for us and we set off. As we drove down the mountain I was glad we left when we did because I knew this was only the beginning of the weather and the road was already white enough in some stretches that it was difficult to see the yellow line in the middle. There was patchy fog and snow flurries so I drove very slowly. It took a long time to make it down because of how slow we were going but we did safely get down. At the bottom Erin relieved me of driving so that I could catch my breath, let Mom know we made it down, and route our path to Atlanta.

The rest of the way was very clear and there wasn't much snow or ice until we got nearly to Atlanta. At some point just past the Georgia border we stopped at Sonic to get some drinks and food as we were all hungry again. While we were there the snow began to fall a bit more heavily than we'd seen it and it was sooo beautiful!! I took over driving again and we still didn't have a lot of trouble on the freeways. We passed several snow trucks some headed the way we were and some going the opposite way. I'm not sure where they were going because we didn't see the kind of snow that would need those!! Once we got to Atlanta we saw snow in the open areas and on parking lots and cars. It was really fun to look at as we passed. When we turned off into the neighborhood though we found a lot of snow. The Tysons' yard and driveway was covered!!! It is still all there this morning and should stay there as the temperatures are well below freezing.

Today we heard that the problem has become as people drive on the roads it melts the snow but then because it's so cold it refreezes into ice. We are glad we made it in last night and hope that by tomorrow things will be clear enough to leave. Thanks for all who prayed for us last night as we traveled!! We are going to be very happy to make it safely home. :)