on saturday last week, there was a HORRIBLE and VERY SUDDEN snow storm.
jo sent me a text message at 9PM
" There is a serious blizzard. Drive safe. "
" Really? Not where im at "
" The north is shocked with super low visibility. Winter storm warning "
where was i? i was in Lethbridge, 2 hours south of Calgary. it was a nice sunny day out and i wanted to get out of town. and since i had an invite, i figured why not. i enjoyed the alone time, and being able to really take the car for a spin since i got back from the workshop.
at 9.30PM, after a very saigonese dinner (= vietnamese) with Adal, the lot of us left Lethbridge with news that the storm was heading south (our way). Jimmy said, "we're gonna book it up and hopefully get as far as possible before the storm hits up." great idea pal. here's what i've learnt, you can never outrun a storm, or a twister, or a hurricane if you're heading towards it. hahaa. I let Adal drive because Lord knows i'm not used to doing long haul trips in the back-country.
half an hour of Lethbridge, and 40KM to the closest town (Claresholm), BAM! all you could see what white. with zero visibility in front of you and barely a foot from your side windows, you know you're effed. we could barely make out the headlights of jimmy's car in front of us.
"we can't stay out here. let's keep moving. there may be a motel in one of the towns."
and at 5-10km/h, we snail crawled their way to Claresholm. along the way, we saw dozens of cars stopped by the side of the road, unsure of what to do. when they saw that we were moving (attempting to anyway), they hitched a line behind us and followed us. hazard-lights blinking and with our highbeams only able to light a foot in front of the car, it's true when they said that the blind (i.e. Adal and i) was leading the blind.
then Adal had a bright idea; he said he could make out the ditch lining the road.
fact: you don't want to go into the ditch.
fact: if you can see the ditch, you'll try to avoid the dtich.
fact: the ditch is next to the road.
fact: follow the ditch line and you'll make it somewhere (anywhere).
unfortunately, to see the ditch line, he had to wind down his window. it was
-35C out too. thankfully i had my wool coat with me, and a few extra randoms in the back of the car. i wanted to pile all my warm clothes onto him, but Adal chose to only wear my gloves and scarf. gee, i wonder why... (:
to get through the hellish drive, we turned up the music way loud and started singing. our belting definitely lightened the mood. we played games like "
PAC-MAN", where you
EAT the dotted lines that separate the lanes! (yeah, that was kinda fun-ish when you aren't completely terror-stricken) occasionally you could make out the dotted line that was a foot in front of you. other times, you had to go on faith and trust when i said, "left a bit". and then there are times when you actually run yourself into a ditch. THANK GOD Adal was able to reverse out of that one.
after driving hundreds of KMs, Adal and Jimmy decided that with a 100KM to Calgary to go, it would be a wise time to take a break at a gas station in Nanton. we prayed for visibility to increase; specifically to be able to see more than 5 feet in front of us. after waiting 2 hours, and watching Hannibal Rising on Jimmy's recently installed in-car DVD player, the snow lightened up and we were ready to go. cheers all around of course.
playing the same games all over again, we made it back into town in one piece and with both cars!
so it is with good reason that i can tell Adal, "i wouldn't mind getting stuck in a snow storm with you again. you're my hero! (:" it's true, we made a fantastic team. (:
valerie anne
in my 20s and wonderful.
dressed to dress you.
. i would do you, but i can't. it's just the wrong season right now.
I've been in canada for days.
. in need of a recommendation
. tattoo
. rolex
. prada bag
. hermes birkin/kelly
. hermes scarf
. prada penguin coin purse
. suped up VW jetta mk3 '97
. 911 Turbo
. WRX
. smoked e-codes/fogs
. porsche deep dish rims
.
my driver's license
.
a shaven head for my 18th
. be a somebody
. make {gravi.tee}
.
snowboard
.
own my first car
. travel: NYC, all over europe,
japan,
mexico, chile, argentina, spain, greece, laos, vietnam, bali, dubai, amsterdam
. publish a book entitled "you better quote val, or else" -
recommended by derek goh
.
fashion school
. travel: roadtrip canada
. travel: roadtrip USA
.
move out
. own a house
. ride the dragon in tokyo
. go fish/camping for a weekend
. open a cafe/boutique
. horse-riding
. speak korean/japanese/spanish/french
. skydive over mauritius waters
. white-water raft above level 3
. bungee jump from a suspension bridge
. break the world record for the longest time on a loop-the-loop roller coaster ride
. save an endangered species
. AND prove to my mum that i'll be married before 35.
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