We waited in Johnstown until Monday to come home because on Sunday it was snowing fairly continuously. Of course, to anyone who was in this area during the snow, this will be seen as an obvious mistake.
The route down the Pleasantville side of the mountain on Monday morning was stressful. I think Berta took it better in her car than I in mine, though, since she seemed to go twice as fast as I did. You really couldn’t see much off the cliff into Pleasantville and the hills beyond, mostly due to the downpouring of snow. There was a nice sheet of snow covering the entire route, and sections of the following road were walled in on both sides by huge, Seussian piles of plowed snow drifts.
After many hours of very poor turnpike travel in low visibility, we arrived at home. Home was the worst of almost everywhere we had been. It was a little sketchy on the far side of Harrisburg, where trucks were banned from the turnpike, but the roads at home were worse than any other place by far.
The house was surrounded on all sides by at least two feet of snow. Fortunately for us, there was cleared parking in the lot behind the garage which let us get out and clear the garage door and eventually make it into the house.
During a shoveling break, we ventured out to forage for food. After stops at three Wawa’s and Cropper’s, none of whom were open and had food, we gave up and made a meal from the dregs of the cupboard. It actually turned out pretty good, thanks to Berta’s tuned culinary skills.
The picture above is of the snow on the roof of the back porch. Our satellite dish, an object of centention between me and the snow, site on that roof. On Tuesday, I had it uncovered, only to discover that it wasn’t the dish that caused the lack of reception. The weight of the ice and snow had ripped the cable right out of its F-connector. Futzing with wires eventually restored TV in time to watch a complete Tuesday night’s programming.
Damage also incurred during the snow storm was applied to our phone. For some reason, the phone doesn’t work, but the DSL cable seems to be fine. Thank goodness for the home line. When it gets light out (and hopefully the snow has melted a bit) I will venture out with some new cable and re-wire the phones. For now, everyone is using their cell phones to get in contact with the house.
Rain is scheduled for tonight into tomorrow, and I hear there is a chance of flooded roads. I wonder if that could result in more driving hazards than what was reported on the radio this morning. I hope that the rain washes a large part of the snow away. It’s a terrible inconvenience.
