Life in the Bristolwood

Our Friday evening get-together for the kids was a good success. The kids loved the Beef Stroganoff, as well as the Shepherd’s pie, and I think we all had a good time together.  One of the boys brought along his new Canon D-SLR and we talked about photography and took some photos.  Another brought along Guitar Hero which occupied not only a good segment of their time, but Mark’s as well!

Yesterday was kind of a wind down after all the activity of the evening before. Everyone just rested and took it easy, as last night was another teen skate and the kids wanted to be fresh for it.

As we all entered the truck, there was quite a goodly amount of snow falling.  We hadn’t really checked the weather, thinking this was just a “squall” that would ease up. The further south we headed (and the lower the elevation), the more the snow let up.

We dropped the kids off at a little before 7, and then we drove on down to Arby’s for a bite to eat.  There are several stores in a little “strip” located there, so we usually just park in one of the parking lots and wait for the kids if we don’t have anything else to do.  Mark pulled into McDonald’s for a cheeseburger, no salt, no condiments, and no bun. Of course, the Scotties instantly knew this was their reward and Murphy nearly attacked the bowl as I cut his burger into small pieces!

We ate. The Scotties ate. Then we settled in to relax a little. We brought along a computer, and Mark dug around for information, as I really would like the ability to post not only text, but photos as well, from my cell phone.  The editor on the phone is missing several features that the computer has, so Mark thinks I need a plug-in for a fix.  As you might have noticed, my blog is now sporting the default theme from WordPress.  I know how to change it back, but am thinking it will do for now, as I am tired of that tree at the top of my blog! I really wanted something I could change around myself, but I lack the ability to figure these things out. Mark knows how to do things, but I try not to bother him with my blog.

Mark and I commented to one another about the horizontal snowfall and how cold it was as the wind blew about the truck, raising up snow and blowing it around like a blizzard.

The kids called us on the cell at about 9:30, wanting to know if they could go to McDonald’s after the skate for a snack. Mark rolled his eyes, and I told them they could for half an hour. Of course, I had to go into the store to extract them after half an hour!

We began our drive back home and Mark decided to take the back roads home. As we drove, we became acutely aware that the theme for the night was “travel at your own risk”!  To say the roads were snow-covered was an understatement!

The back road travels through some high elevations, as as we headed higher and higher, not only did the snow increase on the road, but also the drifts were deeper across the road! Mark is a pretty confident driver, but the snow in the headlights were nearly hypnotizing as he progressed.

When we finally entered our own county about 10 miles or so from our house, the road had been not only plowed well, but also had a hefty coating of salt and sand on it.  We just knew that our own road would be a mess and it was. I don’t think it had been plowed in hours and there was probably about 4 inches of snow covering it.  Thank heavens for 4 wheel drive vehicles! We bounded right on up the road and safely into the driveway.

Although we have driven in much worse conditions before, we were dumbfounded…..how on earth could roads be left in such disrepair on a weekend night? Travel at your own risk, indeed!