Psycho weather
Today it's a bit chilly outside, but sunny and clear with just the slightest hint of spring in the air (so naturally, I'm at the office). Yesterday, on the other hand...
Since we both had lots of work to do around the house after being out of town, and since it was a gray, bleak day, we spent the better part of the day homebound. After a while we decided we needed a break and so we set off for nearby Vieux-Ferrette, France, where we heard there was an amazing cheese shop. As we crossed into France, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour and fierce winds--a bit like driving into a thunderstorm. Minutes later, it started mixing with snow.
Gretchen: "Are you sure you're OK to drive in this?"
Me: "No worries--it's been above freezing so the roads shouldn't be a problem."
Pretty soon it wasn't a mix anymore but was now full-blown snow that was starting to accumulate on the trees and in the fields.
Gretchen: "It's not too late to turn around if you don't feel like it."
Me: "It's not sticking to the road and the temperature is still above freezing, so let's keep going."
Naturally, in no time at all the road was coated in close to an inch of snow.
Gretchen: "That doesn't sound so good under the tires and the temperature is at freezing--are you sure you want to keep going?"
Me: "We've got our snow tires and we don't seem to be slipping, plus we're almost there, so no problem."
As we got within minutes of our intended destination I turned onto a side street and the car promptly started fishtailing and sliding.
Gretchen:
Me: "Ummm...I wonder if we should maybe think about going back?"
And so we did--no cheese for us (and to Gretchen's credit, she never really nagged me about it despite what I'm sure were great apprehensions about her native Southern California husband driving through an intense snowstorm). Sure enough, by the time we got back to Basel it was snowing hard but not sticking to the roads and by this morning you would hardly know it had snowed. Plus it's supposed to get into the low 60s (high teens centigrade) this week. Please, let spring finally be here...
Since we both had lots of work to do around the house after being out of town, and since it was a gray, bleak day, we spent the better part of the day homebound. After a while we decided we needed a break and so we set off for nearby Vieux-Ferrette, France, where we heard there was an amazing cheese shop. As we crossed into France, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour and fierce winds--a bit like driving into a thunderstorm. Minutes later, it started mixing with snow.
Gretchen: "Are you sure you're OK to drive in this?"
Me: "No worries--it's been above freezing so the roads shouldn't be a problem."
Pretty soon it wasn't a mix anymore but was now full-blown snow that was starting to accumulate on the trees and in the fields.
Gretchen: "It's not too late to turn around if you don't feel like it."
Me: "It's not sticking to the road and the temperature is still above freezing, so let's keep going."
Naturally, in no time at all the road was coated in close to an inch of snow.
Gretchen: "That doesn't sound so good under the tires and the temperature is at freezing--are you sure you want to keep going?"
Me: "We've got our snow tires and we don't seem to be slipping, plus we're almost there, so no problem."
As we got within minutes of our intended destination I turned onto a side street and the car promptly started fishtailing and sliding.
Gretchen:
Me: "Ummm...I wonder if we should maybe think about going back?"
And so we did--no cheese for us (and to Gretchen's credit, she never really nagged me about it despite what I'm sure were great apprehensions about her native Southern California husband driving through an intense snowstorm). Sure enough, by the time we got back to Basel it was snowing hard but not sticking to the roads and by this morning you would hardly know it had snowed. Plus it's supposed to get into the low 60s (high teens centigrade) this week. Please, let spring finally be here...
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