We're in Tilbury now...finally! Actually, it's 3:23pm and I'm just getting out of bed. I know, it seems a little late (even for me!) but I assure you that there is a very valid excuse other than the fact that it's Christmas Eve and we can do whatever the heck we like ;)
We left Ottawa yesterday at 3:30pm for the long drive back to the Smyth house. We know the drive well...we've done it many times. And other than the sometimes long lines at the highway rest stops, it's usually a pretty smooth trip. On average, the holiday drive takes us between 7 and 7 and a half hours. Not great but certainly manageable. We seldom ever drive home on the weekends so we end up missing most of the traffic and sometimes, even find ourselves a bit lonely on the highways.
We had Tugger in the back of the car (can I just say that he's not crazy about car travel!) and the instant we got on the 417 (about three minutes from our house), we were bumper to bumper. Ottawa's not a very big place and with a major highway running right through it, getting from one end to the other makes the city even smaller. ONE HOUR! That's how long it took us just to get out of the city...one hour! We could tell instantly that there wasn't going to be much love on this road trip!!!
Things actually looked up once we got out of the city and reached the 401. The roads were clear and there wasn't much traffic..and then the snow started to fall. And fall and fall and fall and fall. It never ended. It turned from snow to ice to rain and back to snow again. By the time we hit Toronto traffic (near Peterborough), we had already been the road for about six hours! We stopped and called home to let them know that we would be arriving a bit later (we were hoping for an ETA of midnight-ish). During this time, Steve and I observed no less than fifteen snow plows clearing the other side of the highway and we had yet to see one clearing our side. In the meantime, Tugger was curled up in the back of the car wondering if we were taking him to the depths of hell! Poor guy...he was such a trooper!
About thirty minutes outside of London, we stopped again to get Tugger some food and water. I kid you not when I say that we could barely see the car in front of us nonetheless anything else. It was going on 12:30am or so and the end certainly wasn't near. We considered bailing in London and just staying for the night but by this time, we were determined to conquer in the end! Or so I thought! Little did I know that it would finally be a scrawny teenage punk at the Tim Horton's that would be my ultimate demise.
When we got to rest stop and decided to keep on trekking, we also decided that we needed to take some time to eat and rest as well. Our last stop had been before Kingston and that was nearly six hours earlier. It appeared from the outside that the Tim Horton's was still open even though the rest stop was mostly closed for the night. I think it's also worth mentioning that by this time we had managed to see another ten snow plows or so...again, on the other side of the highway. Apparently West bound traffic was of little concern. Jerks!
So anyways, while Steve took care of Tugger (who had finally resigned himself to the fact that this car was indeed his new existence!), I went in to get us some food. The line was enormous. Seriously, I counted eighteen people in line in front of me. All of us tired, grumpy and in desperate need of whatever donuts happen to be left! After an undetermined amount of time, I made it to the front of the line feeling a little bit more uplifted. I made my order, the little man who was stuck working that night gave me my total, I handed him our credit card (because they don't take debit and we had used the last of our cash in Kingston not thinking that we were stopping again) while he looked at me and said "I'm sorry Miss...our machines aren't working tonight". I just stood there, blank gaze washed over my face and didn't move. He gently probed..."Ma'am?" I finally took a deep breath, looked at him and said "Please, for the love of God, tell me that you are joking?" "I'm sorry Ma'am...I'm not." I looked at him, blinked once, turned around and left. I trudged through the snow back to our car and proceeded to have a complete meltdown! That's right...my lack of toasted bagel with butter was indeed the end of the world to me and nothing was going to make it better! It couldn't take it anymore!
After some hugs, drowning my sorrows and a few jokes from my amazing husband, we carried one. Really, after nine hours...what's another three?!?!? We couldn't catch a break...it snowed heavier than ever and we held our breath as every maniac transport truck driver passed us in a flurry. The gusts of wind and slush that they created was enough to make anyone call it a night. We passed countless cars in the ditch, three transport trucks buried in snow and NO SNOW PLOWS!!!!!! December 23rd, 2008 will forever be remembered as the day that Westbound travelers got neglected!!! Until our exit, of course! Sure enough, there was two snow plows about a hundred meters ahead of us just as we turned off the highway! Funny!
About three hours later, close to 4am and over twelve hours after leaving Ottawa, we arrived at the Smyth house. After a big hug from two very worried parents, a couple of cheese sandwiches later and some much deserved attention for Tugger, we crawled under the blankets in our king size bed and said farewell to our horrific drive home. We got up around 9:30am to fill our bellies with a bit of food (aka. Kathy's Christmas baking!) and then curled back into bed with our feline.
It was, by far, the worst drive either one of us has ever experienced and to spend Christmas with this house full of smiling faces...I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
We left Ottawa yesterday at 3:30pm for the long drive back to the Smyth house. We know the drive well...we've done it many times. And other than the sometimes long lines at the highway rest stops, it's usually a pretty smooth trip. On average, the holiday drive takes us between 7 and 7 and a half hours. Not great but certainly manageable. We seldom ever drive home on the weekends so we end up missing most of the traffic and sometimes, even find ourselves a bit lonely on the highways.
We had Tugger in the back of the car (can I just say that he's not crazy about car travel!) and the instant we got on the 417 (about three minutes from our house), we were bumper to bumper. Ottawa's not a very big place and with a major highway running right through it, getting from one end to the other makes the city even smaller. ONE HOUR! That's how long it took us just to get out of the city...one hour! We could tell instantly that there wasn't going to be much love on this road trip!!!
Things actually looked up once we got out of the city and reached the 401. The roads were clear and there wasn't much traffic..and then the snow started to fall. And fall and fall and fall and fall. It never ended. It turned from snow to ice to rain and back to snow again. By the time we hit Toronto traffic (near Peterborough), we had already been the road for about six hours! We stopped and called home to let them know that we would be arriving a bit later (we were hoping for an ETA of midnight-ish). During this time, Steve and I observed no less than fifteen snow plows clearing the other side of the highway and we had yet to see one clearing our side. In the meantime, Tugger was curled up in the back of the car wondering if we were taking him to the depths of hell! Poor guy...he was such a trooper!
About thirty minutes outside of London, we stopped again to get Tugger some food and water. I kid you not when I say that we could barely see the car in front of us nonetheless anything else. It was going on 12:30am or so and the end certainly wasn't near. We considered bailing in London and just staying for the night but by this time, we were determined to conquer in the end! Or so I thought! Little did I know that it would finally be a scrawny teenage punk at the Tim Horton's that would be my ultimate demise.
When we got to rest stop and decided to keep on trekking, we also decided that we needed to take some time to eat and rest as well. Our last stop had been before Kingston and that was nearly six hours earlier. It appeared from the outside that the Tim Horton's was still open even though the rest stop was mostly closed for the night. I think it's also worth mentioning that by this time we had managed to see another ten snow plows or so...again, on the other side of the highway. Apparently West bound traffic was of little concern. Jerks!
So anyways, while Steve took care of Tugger (who had finally resigned himself to the fact that this car was indeed his new existence!), I went in to get us some food. The line was enormous. Seriously, I counted eighteen people in line in front of me. All of us tired, grumpy and in desperate need of whatever donuts happen to be left! After an undetermined amount of time, I made it to the front of the line feeling a little bit more uplifted. I made my order, the little man who was stuck working that night gave me my total, I handed him our credit card (because they don't take debit and we had used the last of our cash in Kingston not thinking that we were stopping again) while he looked at me and said "I'm sorry Miss...our machines aren't working tonight". I just stood there, blank gaze washed over my face and didn't move. He gently probed..."Ma'am?" I finally took a deep breath, looked at him and said "Please, for the love of God, tell me that you are joking?" "I'm sorry Ma'am...I'm not." I looked at him, blinked once, turned around and left. I trudged through the snow back to our car and proceeded to have a complete meltdown! That's right...my lack of toasted bagel with butter was indeed the end of the world to me and nothing was going to make it better! It couldn't take it anymore!
After some hugs, drowning my sorrows and a few jokes from my amazing husband, we carried one. Really, after nine hours...what's another three?!?!? We couldn't catch a break...it snowed heavier than ever and we held our breath as every maniac transport truck driver passed us in a flurry. The gusts of wind and slush that they created was enough to make anyone call it a night. We passed countless cars in the ditch, three transport trucks buried in snow and NO SNOW PLOWS!!!!!! December 23rd, 2008 will forever be remembered as the day that Westbound travelers got neglected!!! Until our exit, of course! Sure enough, there was two snow plows about a hundred meters ahead of us just as we turned off the highway! Funny!
About three hours later, close to 4am and over twelve hours after leaving Ottawa, we arrived at the Smyth house. After a big hug from two very worried parents, a couple of cheese sandwiches later and some much deserved attention for Tugger, we crawled under the blankets in our king size bed and said farewell to our horrific drive home. We got up around 9:30am to fill our bellies with a bit of food (aka. Kathy's Christmas baking!) and then curled back into bed with our feline.
It was, by far, the worst drive either one of us has ever experienced and to spend Christmas with this house full of smiling faces...I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
3 comments:
Thank God you both made it safely. Hope you had a very blessed Christmas Gen and a safe and less adventerous drive home!
Love you xoxoxox
harrowing indeed, glad you made it in one piece...
i'm a niagara area boy, and NO amount of money will get me to move back to ANYwhere in ontario... not that nova scotia is much better, but at least i'm close to my kids
Mom to the 6th...rest assured that the drive home was most certainly much smoother sailing! Seven hours and ten minutes!!! Woo hoo!!
Laughingwolf...WELCOME! Thank you for dropping by. Not having lived in Southwestern Ontario for over ten years (now in Ottawa), I almost forgot how tumultuous the weather can be in that area!! Mother Nature really has a funny way of showing us who's boss!!!!!!
Happy New Year to you both!
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