Storm rages outside - again

What an eventful day- so far. While seeing our house guests off after breakfast in their Prius (that I had spent an hour excavating) we discovered it had a flat tire and the chains were wrapped tightly around the rim, with a sagging tire stuck in between like a trapped fish. So,
jacked up the car once we dug out the snow down to a firm icy surface and drove the tire down to Truckee in white out conditions to get it fixed.

With repaired, inflated tire (chains still attached) we drove back up the now closed Interstate 80 (Royal Gorge Employee Badge came in handy to get past the CHP roadblock). Luckily Ted had his Android talking GPS enabled cell phone with him as we inched up the unplowed, abandoned interstate by brail. The snow was blowing hard and the snow was so deep, the road signs were all obscured. The phone handily chirped up "your exit is in 100 feet" as we drifted off the main road and found a slight gap in the bank indicating the exit ramp. Once across the train tracks and safely back in the neighborhood we got bogged down in the indistinguishable and impenetrable 4' berm at the base of our driveway. Leaving the car with blinkers on half-way extending into the rapidly vanishing roadway, we returned to the distressed Prius - now once again buried to the hip in fresh snow and drifted in on the diver's side stranded halfway up the driveway. We cleared the snow away from the jack, retrieved the lug nuts and remounted the repaired tire after having to raise the jack as it had melted int the ice during our absence. With the other car forlornly blinking at us from the base of the driveway, we cleared a path back into the carport, dug out the Prius again, and parked it back in the carport - its journey back to the Bay abandoned for the time being. We then returned to the Subaru - blowing snow down the driveway to an ever increasing depth as the side banks of the driveway now tower well over 20 feet - well beyond the reach of the blower's throw. Once a path just wide enough for the Subaru had been excavated in front, we dug all the compressed snow from beneath, and coaxed the mush covered and frosted car off the berm, and back up the narrow path to the top of the driveway.

At last, I imagined a steaming cup of coffee and a rest as a reward after a hard morning's pointless work. We went inside and discovered that a power failure had occurred, and our normally bright and welcoming house was dark, and cold, as all the heating devices require electricity to operate. Diane lit a collection of candles and we contemplated our fate over cold sandwiches and tea. Already 1:00 pm and chances of skiing today are
evaporating rapidly.

We took the guest bedroom linens back out of the laundry hamper and invited our
guests to stay until the storm abates. Another family is expected tomorrow night, but what the hey - the more the merrier.

I climbed the steep stairs to the second floor - and our bedroom, the only room with windows not obstructed by accumulated and drifted snow and went to relax with my iPad and discovered I had sat on my reading glasses since I had worn them last so now I have a pair of monocles instead.

Diane is quilting tropical fish. I wonder why?

Welcome to my world.

From 2010-2011 Serene Road house

From 2010-2011 Serene Road house

From 2010-2011 Serene Road house