Sunday 13 December 2009

Snowplows and skidoos -My World

More fodder for my keen traffic/automotive/vehicle friends!
I can't believe the snow!  Here is a car; buried in snow in Port Carling, above is a truck at the grocery store. We went for errands, and should have stayed home! Once we made it up the hill, with crevasses and horrible road conditions, we tried to go back the way we came. 
Port Carling, Ontario, is a winding road, with several steep hills. 
Look at the traffic line-up on the bridge!
Of course, I had to go see what was up! 






We ended up in a traffic jam. No one knew what the problem was, since all we could see were cars stopped ahead of us. The odd car would come through, but none in the other direction.

 I grabbed my camera (forgot the videocam!) and took off - not only have I been dubbed Muskoka Muse, now I am the kamikaze journalist and traffic woman!
Bulletin: Current snowfall= 75 cm, with freezing rain a possibility. Presently it is snowing, again!
But back to my story!

A truck could not climb up the hill, after just about making it to the top and stopped all traffic.

I left Brian in the car, and walked up the hill. See my YouTube video, or check it out below!I ran back to the car for my videocam, that's how long all this took!

Then, they decided the local guys would clear the hill and sand it. All these men have been working long hours clearing everyone's snow.

Someone called the police, but they didn't arrive.
Once the men sanded, the cars pulled up and around the truck, further stalling traffic. Then the truck driver stopped the truck at the top of the hill. He parked and got out, while I was directing traffic around his truck, and he walks up to the next hill to see if he could make. I was furious. No concern for the traffic behind him...

People are doing dumb things, or not doing them, I suppose. Don't you think he should have cleaned off his roof?!

We passed a truck that was shedding blocks of snow as he drove by us. Driving with a blizzard screaming out behind him, too.

After the 50 -100 cm dump of snow in Muskoka, some stores are becoming creative!
 Jenny Thomas sent out this e-mail to her customers!

With the recent record breaking snowfall here in Muskoka, Applause! Toy Store would like to make your Christmas shopping experience as easy as possible. Order online or phone in for suggestions from our knowledgeable staff. As always, we can have your gifts wrapped and waiting for you!

If you're completely snowed in, we can deliver your gifts by snowmobile. (within reason)
Bring this email into Applause! Toy Store and receive a FREE $10 Gift Card with a $50 purchase or a $20 Gift Card on a $100 purchase!
 
Offer expires Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

9 comments:

Lucy said...

OOOOH that looks nasty!

Anonymous said...

Seems you've had a little bit of the white stuff - very pretty. I love the snow and now seeing your pics, I'm missing it. I loved my past 2 Ontario winters.

Nothing like it here, so it's good to see some pics of a good old snow storm. I know it plays havoc, but it does look fab!

Judi said...

Hi,
Great blog! I came across it on Facebook after you had posted something to my cousin, Erica Overbeek's, wall.
Judi (powico.blogspot.com)

Azure Accessories said...

Oh my Jenn...what a site, are you in shock??? :0)

What a great thing Applause!Toy Store is doing...can you imagine your package being delivered by snowmobile??? :0)

I strongly agree with you, after a snow fall people need to clean off their vehicles...it can be dangerous for those behind them if they don't and that van in your photo...while the shot looks funny the person should have had the good sense to remove the snow before it lands on a vehicle and scares the day lights out of the driver or worse causes an accident!!!!!

The things some people do...

Regardless... have a great day, hope the snow stops for a while!
Cheers

Vagabonde said...

Your pictures are really showing your weather well. Just looking at them I had to go and get a sweater. I can’t believe people driving in all this snow. If it snows here in Atlanta, everything stops – schools, stores, companies close, only the main interstate highway is open. But it happens only one day a year, if that much. To give you an example, since we are going to Ohio for Christmas I went to Nordstrom to look at their coats. No coats, just light jackets. I asked where do they keep their coats? The sales lady said they did not have any coats this year in their Atlanta stores!
I really enjoyed reading your reports on your area.

Linda said...

This is epic. But so sorry to hear about the loss of life.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Jenn: I agree with you, that video shows quite the mess.

Powell River Books said...

We don't have enough snow for many skidoos, but quad riders still take to the hills. My quad can run in about six inches of snow before it bogs down. Sometimes we take our snowshoes along and then go for a hike. With our cold snap there will be snow much lower when we get back home, so we won't have to ride too far to get in the white stuff. I invite you to come see our plane at the snowy airport here in Bellingham. - Margy

Carolyn Ford said...

Amazing post...unbelievable situations.