Those of us on the east coast have been buried under record snowfall this year. We've officially broken the all-time snow record by over 6 inches as of last night (and it is only early February). This week alone, we've had two major storms totaling over 40 inches which is unheard of in this area (hence the record).
Anyway, while most people have been snowed in, we actually got snowed OUT. Last night while I was washing the dinner dishes, I saw a bright flash out the back window. My wife happened to be looking out the front window at the time and saw the transformer blow on the electric pole and out went the power. Considering it was still snowing heavily and the number of homes without power was in the tens of thousands, we figured it could be quite a while before a crew got out there to fix the problem and restore power. So we decided to escape and spend the night at a hotel.
I called the local Fairfield Inn and booked a room, then went out and cleaned off the car and shoveled enough of the driveway so I'd be able to get out. My wife and daughter packed overnight bags while I was doing that and we hit the road. It was kind of eerie as roads that are usually heavily traveled interstates were deserted. Between home and the hotel, I doubt that we saw more than a dozen cars. We made it there safely and checked into a nicely lit and heated room, two things that were lacking at home.
This morning, I called the house and the answering machine picked up so I knew the power was back on. We had breakfast (included with the room) and packed up and came back to the house. Other than one large tree branch coming down (no damage done), everything was in order. So ended our little snow adventure. And only a tiny ding to the savings for an unplanned hotel stay.
Snowed out of our house
February 11th, 2010 at 03:52 pm
February 11th, 2010 at 04:17 pm 1265905058
February 11th, 2010 at 05:59 pm 1265911158
February 11th, 2010 at 06:36 pm 1265913406
My worst experience with power outage was 4 days in early April (freak ice storm). The hotels were in the same boat so no relief there. I suppose I could have escaped farther away, but I had to work. THEY, of course, had power. But at least that way I got to stay warm during the day!
February 11th, 2010 at 08:05 pm 1265918736
February 11th, 2010 at 11:11 pm 1265929872
February 13th, 2010 at 04:21 am 1266034867
fern, yes I was worried about pipes freezing but there wasn't much of anything I could do about it. Fortunately, the power was only out for about 6 hours so it wasn't an issue.
February 26th, 2010 at 08:52 pm 1267217527
Jerry