Snow Trouble

As most of you already know, I live in Sunny Southern California (not trying to make you guys jealous or anything!) but I have had local snow experience. 

A few years ago (maybe 4 years now) after my nieces visited my parents and I in LA I had to drive them up the I-5 to hand them back to their parents at a midway point between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It was January 1st and it was raining at my house. This can mean that it is snowing in the surrounding mountains. 

I looked up the weather report for the mountain range I had to cross, the Grapevine (named for the way the mountains are laid out around the freeway). No snow yet. I thought about buying chains for my '09 corolla, but a stop at a couple of stores gave me a price of $80 for NON RETURNABLE (even if never opened) chains. Since this was the only time I was expecting to use them (and even then I might not need them) I was not ready to fork over that kind of money. 

Well. Umm. It snowed. It snowed A LOT. 

So much snow that the Grapevine was closed. The thing is... they didn't close it until AFTER I got in it. So I had to trudge my car through the mountain range. The 5 lane freeway was down to one lane and cars were trying to stay behind each other in order to not drown in the accumulating snow. 

I was on the phone with my brother the entire time because, quite honestly, I was scared to death. I had NEVER drive in even a little bit of snow before and this was a full out storm. That freeway closure I mentioned? It ended up lasting 3 days! I wasn't sure if I should get off the freeway and wait it out or keep going. The only advise my brother could give me was that I needed to do what felt safe to me. 

I ended up staying on the freeway and made it out on the other side. As soon as we went down to the desert below the snow stopped but it was raining fiercely. 

After what seemed forever I made it to the restaurant in Kettleman City, CA where I was meeting my sister and her husband. We had an early dinner (we had left at 11am and I didn't get to the restaurant until past 4pm, over twice as long as it should have taken) and then I stopped at Starbucks for a Venti something or other to keep me awake for the trip back. 

Remember me mentioning that the freeway had been closed? Ya, well, the only way back to LA was to take a freeway that would take me across another set of mountains all the way to Pacific Coast Highway and then take that down the coast and back home. This, of course, wasn't perfect either since it was still pouring rain and now it was super dark. That side freeway? The 41. It is a one lane each direction sort of road. Since everyone else going south was blocked from going through the Grapevine it was packet. 

I ended up getting home past 11pm, so over 12 hours round trip what should have been 5 hours. The worst part was that my phone died and I blew the spark plug in the car so I couldn't charge it. 

Blog Dates - Monthly Link Up

As you might have guessed from previous posts – I’m not too much of a social person. I want to be, but I’m socially awkward so I tend to stick to family.

But if I were to have the opportunity to have a blate (and I welcome them – so if you live in Los Angeles let me know!) there are a few places I’d love to go to that my husband Is not too fond of. These are also places to go and things to do for visiting Bloggers.

O N E: Santa Monica Promenade and Pier: I’ve been here with him in the past, but I wanted to do the touristy thing. I want to ride the rides and eat the food. I also want to go in and out of the shops. Not to mention the drinks!

T W O: Malibu: It’s always beach time around here. I’m writing this on February 13^th at around 1pmand it’s currently 90* outside. Yea. Always beach time here. I never go to the beach because I have no one to go with (other than the kids) so this would be perfect for a Blate.

T H R E E:  Hollywood Tour  There is no lack of Hollywood tours out here. I did one with my parents-in-law a year or two ago and it was pretty fun. It showed us current homes and movie stars and also those of stars that are no longer around. They all start along Hollywood Blvd so either before or after we can take a walk down the boulevard and check out the stars (on the ground, that is) and visit a landmark or two.

F O U R: Universal City Walk  I don’t think you can leave LA without taking a look at City Walk and then possibly also Universal Studios. We have plenty of theme parks here, but Universal Studios is probably my favorite. Has rides for everyone and isn’t nearly as packed as Disneyland. City Walk is a nice experience and the stores are nifty. It also has a great Brazilian place to try and have drinks and then there is always the movie theater to catch a flick!

F I V E: Drinks No Blate would be complete without some drinks! There are tons of places to have some drinks in Los Angeles, but the one I think would be the most fun would be at the Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown LA. It has a spinning dining room so you can enjoy some appetizers and some drinks while enjoy the view of the city in 365*!