February 8-14, 2017 We're out of here!

Snow, snow and more snow ...  This was one of the snowiest winters on record for our county.  It was probably the most snow we've had in the 14 or so years we've been here.

The view east from our porch.

The view looking south toward the garden area.

The snow level is above the trampoline (which we shovel off since Scott likes to play on it even in winter).

Raking snow off the roof of our wood shed.  I'm wearing snowshoes.

Our little gray car parked at the end of the driveway.  The drive has been shoveled several times already.

The cabin.

Our road after the last storm before we left.  We'd been snowed in about four days when this photo was taken.  The snow is about 12 to 18 inches deep in the center and it's a warm, wet snow.  Pretty much 4X4 with tire chains only at this point.

We shoveled out the car to get it out of the way when we get plowed out.

He's driving a skid-steer (Bobcat) with a blade on the front.  He has to take a sweeping motion (like using a scythe) and lift the blade to push the snow up and away over the edges.  The problem with this much snow is that there's nowhere a regular plow can push it to get it off the roadway.  The road keeps getting narrower and narrower until they can't push it out of the road anymore.

Our daughter and son left their cars down the hill west of us.  The car is the mound in the photo.  Her Land Cruiser is buried up to the hood.

Our newly cleared road.

We almost beat the the guy who plowed the road out!  We had been packed up and ready to go for days prior to this.

The highway had been cleared pretty well.  Snow packed in places but overall good driving.

Walmart parking lot in Kalispell.

The old Court House in Kalispell.

One reason we were so late was because we stayed for the birth of our grandson.  This was actually before the photos above. 

Scott holding his newest baby brother.

The motel has good rates and a pool and hot tub which makes it our favorite in Kalispell.

Scott had the pool to himself (okay, he shared it with Susan and me).

The hot tub was a little cooler that normal so Scott played in it awhile.

Susan and the grandkids.

Scott's little brother playing with the face mask and snorkel.  He hasn't quite gotten the hang of the snorkel yet.

Scott holding his newest baby brother.

Scott watching his tablet (probably a you-tube video) prior to going to bed.

Sleep time ... finally!

Breakfast in the lobby.  normally I go then Susan goes then Scott wakes up and we take him.  We're heading south today so we got Scott up with us.

Sunrise over Flathead Lake.

The Idaho border.

We were part way through Idaho when it got dark and we noticed the trailer light weren't working.  We pulled off at an exit and I tried fixing them. We ended up staying at a motel in the next town for the night.

Day two ... entering Utah!

Getting close to our destination.  Notice the lack of snow!

Palm trees!  That's what we've been looking for!

A stop at Walmart in Mesquite for a bicycle for Scott.

And we pull into Overton in the late evening.

We normally use the camping area at the Overton Wildlife Refuge as a staging area when we arrive and when we leave.  It's free (8 day limit) and close to town so if we need parts or supplies it's easy to get them.

Next stop was the storage lot where we keep our motor home.  We pick it up and drive the half-mile or so to our camp site at the Refuge.  There we can clean it up and get it ready for use.  We have to put things in plastic storage bins to get it ready to store in the spring then we have to take everything out and put it in it's proper place when getting ready to use it in the winter.  I takes a couple of hours.  We usually store the kayaks inside it during the winter.

All set up and taking a break in the shade.

Scott taking his bike for a spin.

Bad hair day?!

Lego day at the library.  One of Scott's favorite events.

The finished products are put on display in a glass fronted cabinet until the next week when they are replaced with the newest creations.

Playing at the park.

Bed time in the motor home.  Scott calls it his "sand camper."  Our place up north is the "snow house."

Biscuits and gravy!

The local hardware store had rabbits for sale.  At $29.99 we didn't buy any!

Sunsets are always beautiful around Lake Mead!

February 1-7, 2017 Snow, snow and even more snow!

This was absolutely the month of snow!

This was taken on February first.  One of the neighbors slid off into the ditch.  It's the third time in 24 hours one particular driver has made people take to the ditch or get hit by her car.  Ironically, the people who helped get the third victim out were the other two drivers who were run off the road the day before.

This is ten days later.  Note how much the road has narrowed simply because there's no place to put all of the snow.  With each new batch of snow the road got a little narrower until it was down to only one (narrow!!!) lane wide.

Ben and Scott with their dad.

I took a couple of video clips of Ben dancing along with the music played by the toy in front of him.  It came in handy a few days later at the hospital while I kept him entertained while we waited for his mom to have his little brother.  He watched the videos of himself over and over and over again.

Grandma and Ben.

Susan sometimes takes photos of comics she finds.  This one was on her phone so I stole it for my blog.

Scott was entertaining us with a story he made up.

Washing dishes in the dark.  We live completely on solar power so all of our lights are LED or low-watt fluorescent.  We use only the lights we need to see with and seldom try to light the entire room.

Scott on his tablet.

Scott in his bed with one of his "guardians" standing watch.

We are at the hospital with Scott and Ben's new-born brother (Feb. 4th).

Less than an hour old!

We went to IHOP for breakfast with Scott, Ben and his dad.

Ben coloring.

We spent the night at a local motel where we could play in the hot tub or pool.

The rates are cheap for a motel with a pool.  The breakfast doesn't offer a lot of variety but it comes with the room.

This and the four pictures after it are in our daughter and SIL's house when when they got home with the new baby.

Then it was time to head for home trying to beat the next storm that was rolling through.  It had already snowed another four to six inches while we were gone for one day.  More was on the way.

Almost to Fortine.

I got out my new tire cables (purchased at a yard sale) only to find out that they were too big for the tires.  I got them for another vehicle but we no longer had it so I thought they'd fit our new car.  I should have tried them in warm weather!  Now we were stuck about a mile from our cabin.

A neighbor from past us on our road tried towing us up the hill but the tow strap broke half-way up the first hill.

So we rode to the cabin with them.  I planned on using my truck to pull us up the rest of the way (I had more chains and tow straps at home) but it wouldn't start.  I tried the charger then another battery before figuring out that the starter had gone kaput!  I called the neighbor up again and he came with his PU.  He too had chains on it and he pulled the car the rest of the way home.  There it would sit for several days while we got hammered with more snow.

Susan had a spot shovelled out fopr the Hyundai when we got it back home.  She shoveled out about a foot of snow.  This was taken at 5:09 PM.

9:02 PM the same night.  The snow begins in earnest!

Good morning!  I'm beginning to have a love/hate relationship with my snow shovel!  We got about two-feet of new snow (depending upon where you measured).

Both of these vehicles were shoveled out to ground level two days before.

The gate in the background is about six-feet tall.  There's about two feet of it still showing.  I waded out into it to rake some snow from a shed roof and it was up to my waist.

These are our picnic tables.  Note the new layer of snow on the table tops.  Some have two levels of snow.  That's how deep the accumulated snow from all winter is.  Remember, some has already settled.  This last snow is a wet snow that's heavy and sticky.  It's terrible for skiing or snowshoeing.  It sticks to skis and snowshoes in large, icy, globs.

The new snow depth on the trailer carrying our 4-wheelers.

And, shovel off the roof of the van ...

and shovel off the roof of the U-Haul camper ...

And more shoveling ...  Note that this area was down to ground level before our latest snow.

Our poor car is buried at the end of the driveway.

A good morning's work for Susan and I (and Scott)! I ended up shoveling the snow off the roofs of our outbuildings three times in January and February.  Normally once is enough for the season.  Each time there was over two feet of snow depth on the roof.  Some schools were cancelled due to excessive snow loads on the roofs of the school buildings.  Even when the schools were not open many of the students were still snowed in at home.  Those with heavy machinery that could open up the roads were getting $100.00 per hour to run  dozers and skidders to plow roads open and all were several days behind.  The biggest problem was finding places to push the snow.  Pickups with plows can only push it so far then it backs up and the roads keep getting narrower and narrower until it's only as wide as the plow itself.  Many of the roads have high banks on both sides to make matters worse.  Maybe it's time to invest in a good snow blower!

We were snowed in for five days before we could get someone out to remove the snow.  We weren't necessarily stranded because I could have used a snowmobile or walked out. (It was plowed about a mile away.)  But there was no need to get out.  We had plenty of food and firewood so we just kind of chilled (bad word?) until we were plowed out.  Believe me, once the plow went past we were gone!!!!  But more about that next time.