Day 102- Feb. 2nd, 2011 - 6 hours, 5 snow mobiles,4 emergency road crews, 3 stranded people, 2 deputies,1 jeep

Thats what it takes to tell our story for Tuesday evening. 

The school called earlier to let us know there's an early release for the students, because of the pending storm. They predicted 17-22 inches in a 12 hour span. Scott left work and headed straight home to pick me up, to go the store and get a few days supplies in case we got stranded at the house. It was only 4:30 or so, and daylight. With light snow and heavy winds. We took the gravel road to the paved road (5-6 miles) . And went to the store. We were quick about it, rushing through the grocery isles. Made a quick stop to get candles at the Dollar General (Jesse had called from the house and said the house lights were flickering; Jesse stayed home because he was sick.) It was now dark, had to be around 5:30...and the snow was so heavy in town it was hard to see. once we got to the open fields and on the dirt roads, it was downright zero visibility at some points. We hit several snow drifts taller the the hood of the car. The wind was howling around 40-50 mph. We ran off the road after hitting a drift that was like a wall, but managed to recover from that one. Then we hit a drift that did us in, no visibility and we ended up in a ditch. STUCK. No one was hurt, but the Jeep was buried in snow. When we first got stuck, we were going to walk the 1 mile trek to our house, but once we stepped outside the severity of the weather was evident, we decided to get back in the vehicle and call 9-1-1.  

Scott tried to dig us out several times through the night, but it was too deep and the wind replaced the snow shortly after he shoveled it. BTW: Scott is awesome!

This is the next day!

9-1-1 Operator was great, they were going to try to get to us, the weather was preventing emergency vehicles from getting to stranded motorists. Over the next several hours, one emergency vehicle after another tried to reach us, only to get stuck and stranded themselves. We had the jeep going to keep us warm enough, but the gas wouldn't last through the night.The deputies that were stuck trying to rescue us kept in touch, informing us when each unit tried to reach us, and another call when they were stuck. The situation was very serious and the three of us in the Jeep were well aware. Hour by hour we would get the call, they weren't able to get to us. Then around 10 p.m. the Deputies called and said that the Eldridge Volunteer Fire Department was going to come out on snow mobiles and try to get to us. The deputy said he would wait till we were rescued before he would get help. Approx 11:15 p.m. we saw the headlights of 5 or 6 snowmobiles, (couldn't see ) They opened the Jeep doors on the Drivers side (Passenger side was too deep) and informed us that its gonna be a rough ride, hang on and they will get us to our house. A fireman took off his jacket and put it on Jonathon! They led us each to a snow mobile and we got on. The driver I was with told me to bury my face in his back and hang on as tight as I could. I did. A rough ride indeed, without seeing anything it felt like we were riding tall waves of the ocean. I had never been on a snow mobile and THIS wasn't fun. It was beyond bitter cold. A fireman took off his jacket and put it on Jonathon!

Scott walked to vehicle the next day to get our groceries!And to rescue the Jeep.

 We were almost home when the snowmobile I was on got stuck, sank right into the snow. I stepped off and my leg sank into the snow past my hip and under the snow mobile.The firemen and Scott all got off their snowmobiles and assisted. I couldn't get my leg out so I just rolled sideways across the snow. Then I stood up and looked to the left. We were on a snow drift that covered the road 8-10 feet high. It took Four Firemen to get the snow mobile out of the snow beast. They had Scott and I walk ahead to the bottom of the Drift. I struggled because hip deep snow is difficult to move through. After several steps I got stuck, again a fireman pulled me off and assisted me down the drift. Scott was 10 feet ahead of us trying to create a path for us to walk. It was that moment that I got scared, I didn't know if we would be able to get through this situation. But the firemen were waiting at the bottom of the snow beast with the other snow mobiles to take us home. When we got to the house the wind was howling so much that it was hard to hear let alone see, but I tried to thank one of the firemen, and offered our home to anyone that couldn't get home. He told me , "I'm with the Fire Department, we have more people to rescue." And off he went. I couldn't imagine, I was exhausted and stressed. Poor Scott's' face (eyebrows) mustache and were coated in thick ice. All of our clothes were soaking wet and frozen stiff. Jonathan's ear was almost frost bitten. It was a terrible ordeal for all. And that was from being exposed to the elements from 11:15 pm to Midnight when we got home, only a mile away. BTW: Groceries had to stay in the Jeep.  Scott made us burgers and we were so happy to be home and worried all the night that the people that tried to help us made it home safely.HOME SWEET HOME! Sigh!