Snowy Weather

I thought the ground hog didn't see his shadow! What happened to our early spring. I drive in to Lewiston from Kamiah on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the Ed. Tech. class. This morning I woke to about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground at my house, which is no big deal usually. We really don't get that much snow in town and it really is not a hassle to drive in comparitively speaking to places like Sandpoint, Spokane, or Coer D' Alene. On my way in today it was 31 degrees and the road was mostly wet. The closer I got to Orofino though there was more slush and water on the road. I was going pretty slow, I guess I figure I will get there eventually. I usually leave at 6:00 AM if it is dry out but when there is snow I try to leave around 5:30 so I have time to go 35 MPH I can usually make it to class by 7:30 even with the snow. When I got past Orofino there was even more snow and people don't want to drive 40 MPH much less 35.
I got passed by a large white pick up towing a car hauler or some such thing. I laughed at myself for being passed by them but figure I would make it in one piece. As I got closer to Lewiston I can around a corner and saw emergency flashers and cop lights going. I slowed and didn't see much just 3 Tribal officer cars. As they flagged me past in the other lane I saw the car; it didn't seem to have any people in it and I hadn't seen any EMS workers so I hope they were just sitting in the police car. The car was on it's top, it looked like it had spun a few times and hit every available area on the car that could be scraped by the concrete barriers. I had seriously considered turning around a few times before that but didn't. Now I was so close to Lewiston it was pointless to turn around. I made it to the casino gas station, fueled up and noticed the large pickup that had passed me outside of Kamiah and laughed at the fact that they had been in such a hurry and here we are at the same place at the same time. The next thing I noticed made me laugh even harder; they came out of the convenience store with a roll of plastic and a roll of duct tape. It looked as if they had scraped the entire drivers side of the truck on an embankment or barrier somewhere along the way. They had lost their mirror and drivers window. I couldn't help but chuckle, I felt bad after I laughed and hoped they had not been hurt. NOT! Well I had hoped they had not been hurt anyway.

Class was long and I was tired it snowed some more, I knew there was a winter advisory coming into Lewiston and just wanted to get out of there. On the way home I noticed there were quite a few trees that were leaning hazardously over teh road that had not been there before. I always watch for trees and rocks as I drive back to Kamiah as I am closer to the hill or mountain side on the return trip. There were a lot of areas that looked ripe and ready for a slide situation. I always have in the back of my mind that a tree or rock can fall on me at any time and that would be it. A couple was driving back to  Orofino last year in a Toyota Landcruiser and was smashed flat by a tree. They never knew it hit them. When I made it past Orofino and was close to Kamiah I noticed out of my peripheral vision a tree coming towards my car. I gunned the gas and tried to get past it before it fell all the way. It could have been a slide I am not sure. The tree hit the top of my Explorer and scraped down the top and fell off the back. Talk about scaring the ***t out of someone. Here I had been thinking about it and it happened. I never knew if it was just a tree or a mudslide bringing a tree it happened so fast and it was on a corner. As soon as I rounded the bend I could only see the limbs that must have been what hit me.

Home, no major damage from the limbs a few supperficial scratches that might buff out. I don't know if that was Karma from me laughing at the truck this morning or if it is just a game of odds. I have driven that road for three years now for school and have (knock on wood) never had an incident that caused major damage. Winter needs to go down the gopher hole and let spring out. I am ready for flowers and gardens, shorts and sandals.