I figured I was in trouble when, while heading west at 20 miles an hour, I suddenly found myself heading west while going backwards :eek:
An hour later I called my grandparents (who live in town) and asked if I could spend the night, as there was no way in HELL I was driving back home in that shit. A quick trip to WalMart after work (I needed a change of clothes, ya know) and I was on my way to gramma’s house. Over the river and all that. No, really - had to cross the Mississippi.
As I’m approaching the bridge I think to myself, “Self, there’s no way your little '87 Nissan with rear-wheel drive is going to make it up the hill in Sauk Rapids.”
“Self,” says I, “you are absolutely right. How 'bout I take the US 10 north exit and kinda make a big U-turn?”
“That’s a damned fine idea!” says Self. And I WOULD have done that, but when I arrived at said exit, it wasn’t, like…THERE. Oh, the signs and everything were, but the actual exit lane seemed to have completely disappeared.
“Uh oh,” says Self.
“Uh oh,” says I.
“Oh, well,” says Self. “Just hang that left up by the snowmobile dealer and come in that way.” At that moment I seriously considered actually stopping in and buying a snowmobile, but 1) the driveway consists of a rather steep hill; 2) it was 11 p.m.; and 3) I didn’t have the cash. So I hung that left, then hung another left onto County 3, which turns into 2nd St. N inside the city limits, and then…
Then I took a left onto 8th Ave. I really should’ve re-thunk that one. My poor little car made it about 50 feet before the back end broke loose and buried itself in a drift. Fortunately, I was only a block from gramma’s house (I suppose this is where the 'through the woods bit should enter in, but I digress) so I hoofed it to the corner, took my last and final left onto 1st St., and called AAA. They told me it would take four hours :rolleyes: , so I then called the big local tow company, who told me they :might: be there by 1 a.m.
YAY!!!
By the time the tow truck arrived four more inches of snow had fallen and he managed to tow me to the next intersection before HE got stuck.
BOO!!!
He got himself unstuck and told me to call for a four-wheel-drive tow. Dispatcher said they’d be there when they could, and Self and I took ourselves off to the recliner for a nap while waiting for the phone call (it’s 2:30 a.m. by this now). In the meantime, gramma and grampa shut the heater off, so I woke up FREEZING at 4:30, and still no call, so I called them back, and dispatch said “Nope, we haven’t forgotten about you; we’re just swamped.” Back to a nap, from which I awoke around 7:30, and I called them again. THIS time I got a NEW dispatcher, who said “We can’t make it there; we’ll get stuck. Call us back when the plows come through.”
GRR!!!
Plow comes through and does 8th Ave. I have enough room to back out and go on to work…but now my car doesn’t start 
BIG BOO!!!
Just need a jump, right? RIGHT! But 1st St. is still snowed in and we can’t get a car from the garage to the intersection. Finally, at 9:30 the plow comes up 1st St.
BIG YAY!!!
[sub]Of course, while all this was going on, the plow was calling the city cops to tow my ‘abandoned’ car, and while grampa was snow-blowing the end of the driveway from the junk the plow pushed into it I went out to scrape my windows. As I was doing this, a cop pulled up and asked me if I needed a wrecker. I looked at him and said “Hell, I’ve been waiting for one since 2 a.m. How’s that for an answer?” Cop laughed and drove off. Gee, thanks, cop.[/sub]
Neighbor hooks my car up to his truck, we tow it to grampa’s garage, I borrow grampa’s car to make it into work, he calls me around 5 to say my car is running again (the distributor cap apparently got too much moisture in it during this whole ordeal), Self and I picked up my car after work, and drove home. At 30 m.p.h. In the country. Fishtailing allllllllllll 20 miles.
HOME! YAY!!!
Tomorrow I’m taking the truck.
