All bundled up and sno-where to go

Yesterday and today, my husband and I went to the park to take photos of the snow scenes after many inches of snow were dumped on us. I estimated that we got about a billion inches of snow... well, maybe 2 inches less than a billion.

Nonetheless, the snow was fluffly and sticky, which made it very pretty. And it's close enough to Christmas/New Year that I still find it kind of pretty. And also, I didn't have to shovel it.

We have a new camera and we have both been experimenting to learn how to use it, so the serene snowfall is perfect for experimenting.

As we were driving through the park looking at the natural beauty, there was one car that was pulled over. My husband goes, "I think there's an animal over there..." and sure enough, there was a little ball of fur and a kid and a man from the car were walking over to it. We drove on, turned around, and stopped near the animal. It was a raccoon. I hopped out and walked somewhat close to it to take photos. It was eating something, but didn't try to run away, so I think it might have been sick. When I was reviewing the photos, I think he was eating pretzel sticks. It made me sad that he might have been sick. Here's the picture of the raccoon...

We drove a little further, hoping to stop by the creek and take some pictures. A lady in front of us was driving very slow - it was kind of slippery - and then she put on her hazard lights and started slowing down. And then she pulled to the side of the road... and slid. Because only the actual road had been plowed and not the shoulder (or as we call it, the "elbow"), she slid in the heavy snow piled at the side of the road.

My husband, who was driving, passed her, which was when I realized she appeared to be stuck. I said, "Oh no, I think she's stuck!" and he kept driving. He said, "Do you want me to stop?" And at this point, she started getting out of the car and I knew she was really stuck. I think my husband would have kept driving, but I said, "I think we should help." After a brief hesitation, he stopped and started backing up down the road.

I got out and said, "Do you need help?" and she said, "I think I'm stuck, I was trying to find a place to turn around..." Then she yelled to someone in the car, "You are going to need to drive the car so I can push!!" Then she started banging on the window and said, "Get the F--- out and help me!!!" And then this kid who was MAYBE 10 years old, gets out of the car and I decided in my head that we were not going anywhere until they were unstuck.

I told her that my husband and I could push, she could get in and drive. She was really hyper, and we realized later that she was probably on something. She kept saying, "This stupid little car..." and, "My husband is 71 years old and he can't come out because I have the car!" and, "We should have never come out in this..."

She said they had gone to the sledding hill (the same one we always went to growing up) and when she saw a kid injured, she decided she and her kids were leaving, but she apparently got a little lost on the park roads and couldn't find a place to turn around. A younger daughter was also in the car.

We started pushing, while she put the car in reverse. Then we pushed the back while she put the car in drive. Back and forth we went, just inching the car forward and back and barely able to get traction in the deep snow. Just when we thought we got her moving, the car would slide to the right and further into a ditch. When she was spinning her wheels on grass and mud, we decided there was nothing more we could do - the more we tried, the further into the ditch she slid. We even tried digging out the tires with our hands, but it didn't help.

She was cursing out the car, and I asked if there was someone she could call. She said none of her friends or family live nearby, and her 71-year-old husband was at home, but she had the car. I started thinking we should call a tow truck or maybe we could give them a ride home or something, when a park snow plow came by. I started waving my arms so he would stop and I think it was pretty obvious what happened because when he stopped he said, "I'll call a park ranger to come help."

As we started waiting, a passing car slowed and stopped to see if we needed help. The car was full of teenagers and one older lady (well, she was probably just a little older than me) who was probably one of their moms. I said, "I think she's pretty stuck..." but the kids were like, "We have to try!"

About 5 teenagers got out of this car, along with the mom-person. The mom-person got in the driver's seat, which was probably good because the lady who was originally driving the car obviously didn't know how to get her car out of a stuck place (as in, speed up when you get traction, rock the car back and forther, etc.). We all started pushing and these great kids were really getting the car moving, but still it was sliding to the right.

I sent my husband to move our car, because I just envisioned her car shooting forward and into our car and wanted to give her room to get back on the road. One of the kids told another kid to help him push by the front right wheel, the one that kept sliding into the ditch. Within seconds, we all had the car back on the road!

As the car moved forward, one girl went flat into the snow, which was pretty funny - she was covered! But she was OK and just laughed (the kids were on their way to go sledding anyway). We wooped it up, and the lady thanked us all, hugging us and everything.

The kids piled back into the car and I jogged back to our car. I could see my husband pulling out the camera quickly to try and capture some of the experience on film.

I was frozen and soaking wet, but we drove to the next turn-around and parking spot and got out to still try and take some snow pictures, even though it was getting darker. The lady was there, probably trying to compose herself, and the kids were sledding on a smaller hill.

The snow plow driver came back through and we told him that we got her out, so he radioed the ranger so he wouldn't be looking for the stuck car.

We walked in the snow and took some neat pictures for another 1/2 hour or so. But I was so cold and wet, soon I couldn't feel my fingers and couldn't even take pictures anymore, so we called it a day.

I never expected so much excitement today, but I should have known the day that would get interesting when weekly hair removal ended in triage, and the 95th birthday party we attended was abuzz with the drama of some missing sherbet meant for the punch!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend. These 2 are from yesterday:

These 2 are from today: