“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Cabin Day 16—Last Days #2
I'm writing this about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, so lots can still change, but here is the plan:
It is sunny today with predicted temperatures in the 50s. So far, only a breeze. So, we should see lots of melting with little additional drifting. I took a stick and measured snow depths on the road out of here (as far as a neighbor who got out yesterday afternoon). There are two drifts of 12" or so, too much for me to get through without chains. (That's right, I did not bring the chains. I stood there in the garage and looked at them and said to myself "You won't be needing those this time of the year".)
A neighbor got out yesterday. It took them 4 hours and driving over lots of land where there are no roads, just following the path of least snow. They are coming back in today, and he will come to our place with his chained-up jeep. That will cut us a trail that will allow us to get out. By then, snow will not be the biggest issue on the rest of the roads, mud likely will be. We've heard from another neighbor (a couple of miles away) that people (hunters) are now traversing the previously closed county road to the state line.
This means we could leave today, late afternoon, and those of you who voted for a Sunday get away (#1 on the poll) would be right. But, that makes little sense. We'd be on the road 4 days instead of 3 days. We'd need 3 hotel rooms instead of 2, and we'd have to find hotels that take pets along the way since we would be "off schedule" and unable to stay where we normally would. We'd get into NJ mid-day on Wednesday and I'd get to go to work on Thursday.
If we wait and leave tomorrow (Monday morning and #2 on the poll), then we can stick to our normal schedule including hotels, lunch spots, rest areas, etc. And, I'll still be at work on Thursday. So, that is the plan.
Will keep you informed.
Last night was burritos for dinner and a fun movie.
3:15 p.m. update: We drove the truck out as far as Bucky Beaver Dam where the road got very iffy. We were able to plow through the drifts that far and we drove through the bad ones several times to break them down. The sun has been out all day with warm temps and no winds. So, a lot of melting has occurred. We hear that the county road north of Wapiti is still very iffy. And, mud is now becoming as much an issue as the snow was yesterday. So, a neighbor will drive out in front of us to help us if we get stuck anywhere. May not take the county roads but interior roads instead since some of them have been plowed by association members on the other side of Sand Creek.
We are now packing and getting everything ready to put in the truck early tomorrow. The plan is to get up at 5:30, load the truck, close the cabin, and be ready to leave by 6:30. We'll take showers but no coffee or breakfast. Instead, we'll go by MacDonalds on our way through Laramie.
We'll drive out via Brubaker road (I assume, but we need to hear the road reports from neighbors first), dump recycle at the West Laramie Fly Shop car wash, dump trash in a dumpster of an association member who has given us permission, get gas at the West Laramie Fly Shop, grab breakfast at MacD's, then immediately onto I-80 headed east.
So, this is probably the last you'll hear from me on this trip.
Hope you enjoyed the vacation with us!
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 10/06/2013 at 10:10 AM
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