Last week I talked to someone in Michigan on Monday and heard it was raining in the morning but nice and sunny in the afternoon. Looking forward to the changing season, I flew in less than 24-hours later. During the flight the pilot reported the weather to be snowing with -8 (F) temperatures and 30mph winds which looked exactly like this:
There were slideoffs and rollovers everywhere. The new snow was 8-10" deep and four more inches was predicted overnight. I didn't bring warm winter clothing - shame on me!
Oh well, so far this Winter it has been warmer/nicer in New Jersey than Michigan. There has been no real snow to speak of with some cold nights but it rains much like Seattle in the dark months of the year. I flew home in the late evening hours, in the dark. Not long after getting home with a totally clear night sky we watched the lunar eclipse. Even in NJ we could see the moon and watched it fade out and then back in. I would share a photo with you but they didn't turn out so well.
I remember as a child waiting with anticipation for a big snowstorm. One that would be deep enough for sledding and was likely to cancel school. Living in Sandpoint, Idaho this happened all the time. It was not uncommon to get 1-3 feet of snow in the mountain community surrounding Lake Pend Oreille. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpoint,_Idaho or http://www.sandpoint.com/ or http://www.city-data.com/city/Sandpoint-Idaho.html are good places to look at the area.So when we moved to Boise, I had conjured up images of nice peaceful snowfalls throughout the Winter. It is Idaho after all... but apparently we hit the mildest winter in recent years. A couple of light snowfalls blew through but nothing substantial, you did not need 4x4 to get around town.
Moving to NJ we once again imagined those major snowstorms that are seen on the national news. Two, three, or more feet of snow in a single dump. That is what I had imagined NJ to be like... along with lots of salt on the roadways to cause all cars to become rusty by their fifth birthday. The winter of 2007-2008 has been yet another letdown for anyone who like snow. Mild temperatures and rain have been the norm.
Until... last Friday. The biggest baddest winter storm of the year hit the NYC metro area, including NJ. I woke up in the morning to five inches of snow... and the drive to work being such a long commute, normally takes me about five minutes. This day it took almost ten minutes! This is what my commute looked like:
So for the next few months I will enjoy snowstorms as I travel to Michigan and (hopefully) warmer weather in Tennessee. NJ will probably be somewhere in the middle. In any case like the title of this blog, No road is long with good company, so thank you for coming along!
