So Atlanta has been shut down for days. We had 2.5" of snow. Yup. It was pretty scary though. We were supposed to be north [yes, north!] of the winter storm warnings. Our county was expecting a "light dusting." Certainly not what happened!
The storm came in on Tuesday morning. The southern parts of the state were supposed to receive 3-5", but we were going to be okay. We really had no warning, we had no idea. About 10:30, I got word that schools were dismissing two hours early, 12:15 for Ryan's elementary. It still wasn't even snowing at that point. I figured, I guess they are worried about the middle schoolers who get out last, so they have to back everybody up. Shortly after that I got a call from Abby's teacher. She just wanted to make sure all the parents, especially with siblings, knew about the closing so we could coordinate getting everybody. Since preschool ends at noon, I told her I'd come in a couple minutes early to get Abby, just to make sure I was home in time for Ryan's bus. I sat down to feed Chloe some oatmeal before leaving. It had started snowing by this time, and I watched it come down out back while she ate. It was snowing fairly hard, but wasn't really sticking or accumulating. But it was a very weird snow. Here I was thinking I was leaving early, but in reality I had probably waited too long. The snow was sticking to the roads first, that never happens here. I got to Abby okay and walked in to get her. [flashback to here, I probably should have picked Ryan up from school at 11:15 on the way to get Abby]. After getting Abby, we headed to Jed. I was planning just to let him out and give him his meds. But in that span of 30mins, things went downhill so very fast. The roads were already freezing. I got stuck behind two accidents trying to get to Jed. I actually saw police with sirens pass a guy who had driven off the road; I guess things were worse farther down the road. By now, I am really starting to worry. I'm not usually a panicky person. I called Coleson a couple of times, and his mom, and my neighbor Ericah. I decided to bring Jed home with me in case we couldn't get back. And I really, really, really wanted Ryan home. I was scared to have him on the bus.
The girls and Jed and I made it home, an HOUR after we left. It was crazy, it shouldn't have taken more than 30 or 40 mins, tops. I was really worried about Ryan at this point. We were guessing the bus would be home about 12:35. At 12:18 Ericah called me exclaiming that the bus had just gone by, say what?! I locked the girls in the house as I went running out just in time to greet Ryan. Apparently the school had decided to dismiss buses as soon as they were ready. I am grateful for that, just really grateful for Ericah and the heads up! Hugging my Ryan and having all three babies at home was an awesome, awesome feeling. I still can't believe how fast it all happened. Ryan ate lunch in his classroom; I think it was probably fairly chaotic in there, but fortunately the kids all just thought the snow was cool.
Of course as soon as Ryan got home, everyone wanted to go out and play, I couldn't even convince them to eat first. We piled on layers, loaded up the wagon, and headed out. We visited with neighbors and threw snowballs and made it around the corner to Ericah's house. We played with Anna Wynn and Asher, as well as Hilary's family. There were kids out everywhere. We stayed out about an hour. By the time we got home, our wagon tracks were covered over and the wagon itself had a thick layer of snow in it. It snowed steadily from about 11 until 5.
I had pleaded with Coleson to leave around 11:30 while I was out picking up Abby and Jed, but he had meetings and couldn't leave until 1:30. In hindsight, he should have stayed at work. Most counties closed school two hours early. Fulton county didn't, instead they just had some sort of mass dismissal at 1:45. Everyone in Atlanta, and I mean everyone, hit the roads between 1 and 2. We have very few snow trucks or supplies. And they weren't out since we weren't supposed to get the snow. And it was so cold, the roads were instantly freezing. It was crazy out there. I still can't believe how crazy it was. Coleson left work at 1:30. At 8:00 he exited 575 at 92 to stop and rest. Yes, 6.5 hours later! Jim tried to come down and meet him and drive him home, but the roads were literally littered with cars and he couldn't make it. People were spinning out everywhere. Cars were stuck and abandoned. The ones that could drive, still couldn't, simply because the roads were parking lots. Coleson stopped for about an hour, before continuing on. All this mind you, without having eaten lunch. And he didn't have any water in his car. Fortunately, he had a full tank of gas. He had a cup of coffee at the gas station that morning and a donut at work at 11:30. Since East Cherokee was impassable, he continued across 92 to his mother's independent living home. He had to park across the street and walk over. He made it about 10:30.
Dad//Grandpa had left around 2:00. Hours and hours later, he was still in front of Wills Park. Eventually we were able to convince him to head for Barbara's also. He arrived there a few minutes after Coleson. His car had spun out and he walked the last few minutes, but he made it. I am so very grateful they were able to get someplace warm with food and water. So many people weren't as blessed as we were. I have a neighbor who left his car up near the Canton Marketplace and walked. Walked. Seven miles. I have another neighbor who drove from the Canton Marketplace. It took him nine hours. Even if Coleson had gotten all the way up 575, we weren't sure how to get him home. I have another friend who stayed in his car; he got home at 7am. The roads were clogged, jammed, parking-lot-ed for 24hours plus. I have never seen anything like it. I still can't even really believe it.
On Wednesday, Jim drove down and picked up Coleson & Dad and dropped them off at home. Thank God for his 4wheel drive! Dad just picked his car up today; Coleson's is still there. We aren't even going to worry about it until tomorrow. School's have been cancelled for the rest of the week.
Coleson made it home 24 hours after he left work. We were soooo happy to see him. We greeted him at the front door! Ryan had drawn him a picture that pretty much summed up how we all felt. Daddy walking up the driveway, all of us standing at the door to meet him. We missed him! But as crazy as his ordeal was, we still feel like one of the lucky ones. What a blessing to have Barbara's work right there, where both Coleson and Dad could get to. And they had food and water and rest.
The kids and I went out twice on Tuesday and again Wednesday morning. We went again Wednesday evening with Daddy. We tried to sled on swimming pool boogie boards, but that did not work! We ran into Zach and Art sledding on Wednesday. They had a real toboggan sleigh thingy; it was awesome! Mr. Zach took Abby and she LOVED it! We also played with Max at some point. Right now, we've got Georgia and Naomi over. What a wonderful thing it is to have such great neighbors. They were also amazing on Tuesday night when I was so worried. It was a really rough night, knowing that Coleson and Dad were out there. But the wonderful emails, texts, facebook comments, etc made it a little more bearable. I can't imagine going through something like that without technology. Being able to stay in touch with the guys was awesome. And having a support network was great. My neighbor Kelsi even offered a couple of times to come keep me company! While I didn't want company right then, the offer really meant a lot. Erin told me to call her anytime of night. Christa, as always, wins the award for constantly texting and emailing me encouragement and asking for updates. I am so blessed!
So here it is, Thursday afternoon. There is still snow on the ground. School's out tomorrow too. Our neighborhood appears fine, although we haven't driven anywhere. I see pictures on facebook though of shady spots that still looks just as bad as they did two days ago. I think cancelling schools was the best call. Even though most roads are better, we're all still recovering. There are still abandoned cars everywhere. Some families are just now reuniting. And then there's all those poor kids that were trapped at school. I can't even imagine that. I can promise you this though, I would walk to school before my kids would stay the night. Actually, we did see a news story last night about a dad who walked seven miles to his kindergarten daughter's school and spent the night there with her. That's awesomeness. I loved seeing the stories of people stopping to help strangers. One news article was titled: "bad storm, good people." Love that, I hope that's how the rest of the nation sees us. While I know they are having a good laugh at our expense, hopefully they can see that most people really were gracious and awesome out there.
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