We're ready for the snow!........Are you?

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we are expecting to see the first snowflakes of Winter Storm Jonas.  Depending on the weather forecast you watch, here in Bedford we could see anywhere from eight inches to two or more feet of snow!  Mom had gone out for the afternoon with a friend and while she was out I thought of a few things that we had overlooked and had asked her to stop by Walmart after she went to the Dollar Tree.  She called me and told me the parking lot looked worse than it did for holiday shopping and informed me there was no way she was going in that store.  Then asked if I would like to hop in the car  when she passed the house on the way down to Food Lion.   I had nothing better to do at that moment so the kids and I joined her around 4:30 pm and off we went to see if there was any food left. Needless to say all of the milk and bread had vanished from every store in the area last night, but it was interesting to see slim pickings of salad greens and that the potatoes and bananas we gone. Luckily we weren't really looking for any of those "essentials" and were able to get the few things we did need.

When we got home and had unloaded the car, we went out to take care of the birds and rabbits and then came in to make some dinner.  Mom and I were making sure we had all of the supplies we could need to ride out Jonas.  We had made a last run to the grocery store for salad greens, some extra snacks and water. We have all of our groceries and extra water we should need and hey if the power goes out we even have a generator.  Then it occurred to me that we had siphoned the gas out of the generator and had put it in the riding lawn mower a couple of weeks ago so we could mow the lawn for the last time this winter and we had not gotten any more.....oooops.... At least the store on the corner has gotten their "ethanol free" pump fixed so I didn't have to go far to get more gas, but back on went my coat and back out I went for one last "essential" need.

Now that we have a supply of food, water and gas.... now we wait.... will it be just a few inches?....will it be a couple of feet?....even hours before the storm hits no one is certain how things will play out.  We are hoping for a foot or more and looking forward to the prospect of building snowmen, making snow angels and baking cookies this weekend.

Stay Home and Stay Safe!

Tonight was a grave reminder that just because the roads don't look bad, doesn't mean that they are safe to travel.  I was out a little later than I intended this evening and on my way home I drove past two accidents just as it was getting dark.  One was up by Walmart in Bedford, VA.  It was a little too far up the road for me to see, but the blue lights were a sure indicator of trouble.  The second one was on Rt. 122 (Moneta Rd.).  The road really didn't look bad and honestly I had been traveling at about 40-45 MPH (though the speed limit was 55) , but as soon as I saw the accident and tapped the brakes I felt the car slide.  As we passed the crash I slowed and asked if there was anything I could do to help.  They had already called the rescue squad and declined help from me, so I kept moving.  You can follow that story on the WDBJ7 website.

There were 3 trucks, 2 small and 1 large, that were smashed in and awful looking!  I heard one of the gentleman that was out of his vehicle tell another that was apparently stuck in one of the vehicles, someone was on the way to help.  Unfortunately, looking at the news article, I don't think they made it.  From the looks of the trucks involved there was enough damage to total all 3 vehicles.  I can only imagine what it looked like when it happened. In my head I can see one of them braking coming down the hill and spinning like a pinwheel taking out the other two trucks.  My thoughts and prayers are with all of the families involved in this awful accident.

Tonight's' snow was nothing compared to what we are supposed to see come Friday and Saturday. Tonight it looked like mostly clear roads with a little snow blowing across it in little swirls, but under that was nothing but ice! When the snow starts falling on Friday, please remember that looks can be decieving and you only get one life! Everyone please, please, please take care in the snow even if it looks like things are clear!