Walking In A Winter Wonderland.....Literally

I'm disappointed that I am blogging before I have the picture that I've been waiting to post since October, but I can't go without writing about our adventure tonight. We've had some wonderful things happen in our little family of 2, and I can't wait to tell you about them. I'm planning on doing an "End of the Year Wrap Up" but you will have to wait a few more days for that. Back to our adventure....

Since the beginning of the week, the weathermen have been calling for "a light accumulation" of snow for Thursday here in Knoxville. I even recall WBIR's Mike Witcher saying, "it should just be a light dusting." The snow started today in knoxville around 1:00. It really was just little flakes of snow. Nothing to be worried about. Daniel and I both had to work today. I was working in Alcoa and Daniel was in Straw Plains. We ended up leaving each of our workplaces around 4 p.m. (It usually takes me around 20 minutes to get home from work). To make a very long story short, we didn't arrive at our house until 7:45!

The interstate was fine. However, the back roads of Knoxville were pure ice. Daniel ended up being about a 1/2 mile in front of me on our way home. This was seriously the Lord taking care of us...you will find out why. I received a call from Daniel telling me that "Robinson" (The road we live about 2 miles off of) was completely ice. No cars were moving. He even saw one man completely abandon his car, with briefcase in tow, and start walking to his home. It seemed quite disturbing at the time, and a little humorous that he was just leaving everything and walking home. Little did I know that I would soon be following suit. About 45 minutes later I received another call from Daniel. "I am completely out of gas, I have to park and walk." I couldn't believe it, but agreed it was all he could do. As I finally made it onto Robinson I soon realized just how icy it truly was. I slid my car into the first neighborhood and parked. Daniel turned around from his long trek and came to meet me. I am so thankful that the Lord placed us near one another on the way home. I would have been terrified to walk by myself in the dark. Once Daniel met me, I grabbed 2 fleece coats from my car and we began the 2 mile hike in the snow....

This picture was taken at the beginning of our walk. It isn't great because I didn't realize that I had my camera with me and had to settle for my cell phone. You can see the line of cars just at a stand still. People literally left their cars parked in the middle of the road and just started walking.


Poor Daniel was in a windbreaker and his business suit. As I was walking, I was thinking that it was a bad day to choose to wear ballerina flats with naked feet....

We are about an hour into our hike now and we're both still feeling pretty good. It's getting colder, but we are still hanging in there. Everything was slowing down because the cars became stranded and no one could drive any farther. A look back in the opposite direction shows how we were walking into "no man's land."




Still feeling pretty good....






Ok. It's been an hour and a half now and the wind is really starting to pick up. The snow is falling faster. Not doing so great now...

REALLY NOT DOING SO GOOD NOW (I can't believe I'm posting this picture)...



Let's take a moment to recognize how many steps I (5'4") have to take to keep up with my 6'4" handsome husbandOh, to have a long stride.
At this point I decided to start a conversation to keep our minds off of the terribly cold wind and the numbness that was settling in.

Beth: So, what life lessons have we learned from this little adventure?
Daniel: Leave work early if you need to.
Beth: Fill your car up with gas at the first sign of snow.
Daniel: Be willing to walk a little.
Beth: Don't wear ballerina flats in cold weather. My mother is seriously going to kill me when she finds out I'm not wearing winter shoes.
Daniel: Always keep a Gatorade bottle in your car.
Beth: Wait... What?
Daniel: I had to go to the bathroom really really bad!
Beth: HA HA HA!

At this point I heard a noise....SHHHH, SHHHHH, SHHHHH, SHHHHHH. What is that? I turned around and saw a little man in his business suit and dress shoes literally "shoe" ice skating around us. I tried not to laugh out loud. Next thing I know Daniel is trying it too. While trying to keep up with Daniel's ice skating I saw the best thing my little snowflake covered lashes had seen all evening....our subdivision sign! We made it home after walking an hour and forty five minutes in the snow. We survived a once in a lifetime adventure with plenty of life lessons learned. Who needs Mt. Everest? We conquered Robinson!