more SNOW

We had listened to weather forecasts that projected 2-4" of snow for Buffalo. We were excited to see snow - especially the kids. More than 6" of snow fell and with a very 'wet' snow! While beautiful, the snow falling so early in the season presented some challenges for the city of Buffalo, the campground and us! All the beautiful trees that were just beginning to show their fall color had a huge amount of clingy, wet snow mounding heavily on every branch and leaf. Over the duration of the snowfall, the weight became too overwhelming for even the huge branches and sometimes trunks. The trees began to pop, crack and fall - everywhere. Electrical lines were being hit by falling limbs and power outages resulted for the entire community.

We must explain that the campground had heavily promoted the fact that they had over 200 mature trees. Very tall cottonwoods are indeed throughout the park with at least 2-3 trees between each of the parking sites. Here's a nice view of the trees that surrounded our trailer when we set up.As the snow became heavier during the evening, we didn't think much about it. We were prepared with our electric heaters, plenty of propane and our freshly insulated water line. Then, the power went out about 10:30 pm as we were settling into bed. Hmm...that great insulation would work, but the electric heat tape would not be working. We dripped the faucet and headed back to bed.

Then, around midnight, we heard heavy snow dropping from the branches above onto the roof. People were stirring around outside, looking up at the heavy laden branches.

Then, around midnight, we heard the motor home a couple of spaces over start up. Linda peeked out the window just in time to see a nearby transformer explode and burst into flames. The motorhome honked their horn - probably to warn the folks in RV's parked near the transformer as the trees were beginning to catch fire! Two nearby pickups cranked up and fled. We started putting clothes on while Craig called 9-1-1. Help was already on the way and shortly after a patrol car arrived. Craig went out to tell him where the transformer was, as the flames had died by then. The patrol car backed up after a heavy dropping of snow landed almost on the hood of the car. We heard branches popping, cracking, snow falling and branches crashing seemingly all around us. The patrolman advised Craig to get back indoors and he quickly did so.

Relieved that the fire was out, we still were unable to rest. We heard diesel engines starting as surrounding travellers packing up, hitching up, yelling at each other and moving out. We discussed and prayed about what would be wise for us to do. We knew that the heavy snow was piled high on our slideouts, preventing us from pulling them in without removing the snow first. The thought of any of us being out under those falling branches was terrifying. We decided that there was no point in pursuing getting the trailer out - especially since it appeared that the roads in the campground were becoming heavily strewn with branches as well. We could load up the kids and dogs to retreat out, but with the danger of fire resolved, it did not seem that we were in life threatening danger. We would just have to sit tight in the RV until it was light enough to see what we were in for. We prayed for God to guide us in our decisions and to protect us and our trailer, but were unable to sleep throughout the rest of the night. Indepedently, we both thought about the apostles in the storm at sea while Jesus slept and His admonition regarding their fear. We longed for the peace to sleep, but while comforted in our decision to ride out the night, we weren't quite to the place of sleep!

Another transformer blew out near the front of the campground and set another fire that was quickly under control. We were thankful and amazed at the emergency crews responsiveness and the utility company's adept work throughout the night. Occasionally, we would have power for a few minutes, which was just enough to keep the battery charged to run the blower on the heater.



By 5:00 am when the alarm went off (for no useful purpose since we were already awake), we were ready to start waking the kids to venture out for coffee (no power for our own pot!) and breakfast while we figured out what was next. After cautioning the kids about the falling branches, we hustled them and the dogs into the truck. In the moonlight, we saw large the fallen limbs in all of the campsites. We offered up tremendous praises and thanks to God as we saw that not one branch was on our trailer and only one leaned against the side of the truck. Our site was the only one spared (you'll see a photo below)! We had to drag a few branches out of the campground drive and picked our way out to the main road.

We saw lights at a convenience store next door but hoping for better breakfast choices, we continued in a circle around Buffalo to find everything closed and dark. Snowplows were out, but even the unplowed roads were pretty clear. By the time we returned to the convenience store, the lights were no longer on and the door was locked. The entire town had lost power. We joined others parked in the parking lot, thankful that we had plenty of diesel in the truck. Fortunately, the lights returned to the store within about 15 minutes and we joined the travellers, truck drivers and a bus driver in the rush to the coffee pot. As we sipped our coffee and purchased hot chocolate for the boys, the clerk advised that the power issues were widespread and that snow was predicted to continue all day. With the light of day now allowing us to see better, we returned to the RV park to see if power had been restored and to contemplate moving our trailer with the prediction of more snow.

Here's a the view of the snow laden trees and fallen branches after the long night of listening to the branches fall all around us. Compare this photo to the first photo in clear weather. Notice how most of the trees are now leaning away from our trailer!

We didn't have power yet, but the temperature was warming up a little. The kids were dying to pile into the snow and we allowed them to have at it in the play area that had no tree branches overhead. They had a blast!

We found a better spot to park the truck as some limbs were looming over that portion of the site. Later in the day, several branches did fall so we were glad to have the truck spared. We inspected closely above the trailer and saw few branches that could fall with a direct impact on it, so we decided to leave it alone. The other RV's that had moved during the night were parked in what few open areas existed in the park and along it's driveways. We probably could have squeezed in with them, but would have no hookups and didn't seem to gain any more in safety for the trailer.

Instead, we set about borrowing a step ladder from the park owner and used a broom to remove snow from the awning covers over the slides. At least 4 inches was piled heavily on each slide and the wet snow didn't respond easily to the little house broom we were using, but Craig finally succeeded in removing almost all of the load. We set about packing up the inside of the trailer so that we could pull the slides in. After all that work of unloading the slides, we didn't want more snow to pile up again! The kids would have to sleep on the love seat sofa. We offered that one of them could share the king size bed with us, but they opted to stick it out together on the love seat.

We packed into the truck and found more of the town with power, so lunch at Hardee's was a nice break from the cold in the trailer. School was out in Buffalo due to the power outage, so the boys had 'snow day' too and spent more time building snow forts in the play area. The wind began picking up and thus the wind chill fell to 16 F, so, over their loud protests, we moved them to the on-site laundry to dry out and warm up. The power eventually was restored again, and we all were so exhausted from the sleepless night that we collapsed for about an hour of napping. Not up to meal prep in the cramped quarters, we took another drive around the town to find things returning to normal and had supper at Subway. We returned to find the power successfully restored and arranged the kids and dogs in their cramped sleeping spaces. Still weary from sleep deprivation, we all turned in early and thankful for God's mercy upon us and our trailer.

The power held through the night, so we slept soundly and woke to chilly 27F. The insulated and heated water line worked perfectly! The kids went out for another snow battle, while we finished preparing the inside of the trailer for travel. When the kids returned, we threw their wet clothes in the dryer while they ate breakfast. The branches were no longer falling, but the melting snow and ice from the trees still packed a big wallop. We kept our hoods on our heads while picking the power cord and hoses out of the snow. We kept the kids busy coiling things up under the cover of the hitch area of the 5th wheel and eventually got hooked up to leave. The owner had worked hard the previous day clearing the park drives to the road, so we made it safely to the highway and on to our next destination.

We captured the Big Horn Mountains in this photo as we happily headed south! Somehow the snow looks so much more beautiful without any threat of harm!

Lessons learned: When heavy snow is projected,

1. Don't park under trees
2. Pull in the slides
3. Look around for transformers that might blow in storms, steer clear of them with the RV
4. Remember God's past deliverances and while not taking them for granted, take comfort in His love and mercy