December 11, 2007 in and out of darkness

We woke about 7 AM and still the electricity was off. It was only down to 62 degrees in the house. I called Larraine to see if they had electricity so BT could shower for work. Yes they did, but they had 6 extra adults over who didn't have electricity, so I told her I'd check around. I called Janie and BT went there.

The boys and I quickly dressed and headed down stairs for some cold cereal. Trying to entertain two little boys without TV was going to be a challenge. Luckily at 8:20 power came on. I reset all the clocks first thing. Lona called, they had been without electricity since early Monday, so her and Stephane and Mom came over to shower.

I made Blueberry muffins and the little boys ate their second breakfast. We spent the day enjoying the furnace, the computer, the TV, the blower dryer, the electric oven, etc. That is until we were eating dinner at 5:30, with a blink or two, the power went off again.

BT got all the kerosene lamps going, his propane camping lantern and several candles. The boys thought we were camping. They even got to watch a DVD with the battery on the laptop. Several times the lights would come on and then go back off. Each time Brady was disappointed, as he thought this was a great thing.

A little over an hour later the lights came on and stayed on. Once again I reset all the clocks.

I got a call to report for work at 4:30 AM in Linn in the morning. Our coop was hit hard.

Lori picked the boys up by 8 and I was in bed shortly after that. BT was in the basement when I went to bed, working on the water softener.

3 AM will come quickly enough.

Here are some pictures I took outside today.

Dec 10, 2007 On the road, the icy road

We never heard Rusty leave for work sometime during the 2 AM hour. BT got up when he heard Sarah in the living room a little after 6 AM. He asked if he took her to work, could she find a way home. She jumped at the chance. He went out to de-ice his jeep, which was a cold long process. The doors and windows were frozen shut with a layer between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick. A few minutes after 7:00 I watch them drive out the drive way on a layer of ice which covered everything in site.

Josie and I hung out together for about and hour and a half. Sarah kept in touch via the phone. I had just started to make us some breakfast when BT came in, shortly before 9. His drive to Sarah's station was a lot long then the trip home. The fact that the roads were more clear and he took a different route back made it quicker.

We were on our way home by 10:00, we pulled into a Shell station to see if they sold windshield wipers, but no such luck. The wiper on my side was shredded by the ice. We started with almost a full tank of gas as we were hearing on the radio that the toll-pike was without electricity and all gas stations were closed. Travel was slow, 50 mph was our average. We never saw any wrecks or cars in the ditch. Several looked to be out of gas or broke down. At the gas stations/McDonald's there were always several big trucks and cars sitting, all the buildings were dark.

Tulsa looked like a bomb had dropped, we saw down power lines, streets completely blocked with trees and branches, utility works, policemen, firemen all working to clear paths. At one point we even saw highway workers clearing trees off the interstate. There were almost no businesses with electricity. By this time my mirror had a 3/4 inch layer of ice on it.

We made it to the state line and turned into the first gas station. it wasn't as crowed as I thought it would be. Our stop was a quick one even though the pump was a slow one. After we got back on the highway, I pulled the sandwiches out of the cooler I had packed and we had a picnic on the road. The ice in Joplin was still extremely heavy, however the closer we got to Springfield, the less we saw. It came in patches. We began see red PAR utility trucks heading west on I-44. If our count was correct there were 40 of them. Later there were white truck from Barton Electric.

At highway 17 and 54, near Eugene Missouri, the ice was once again as thick or thicker then Tulsa. Eagle Stop Gas station and Subway were without electricity. It was scary driving Route E between Brazito and Osage Bluff because the trees were so heavy and hanging over the highway. I said we needed to drive down the center to feel safe.

At 5:15 we pulled into the drive way or I should say wormed into the drive way. We had to dodge around bent over frozen trees. I don't know who was more happy, us to get home or Bentley to see us. the normal 6 hour drive took us over 7 hours.

Lori came in just a few minutes after we got home. BT was down the road trimming trees so car could travel our road. Lori held the flash light for him to see. The boys would be staying all night with us as Lori was needed to say with her Mother who was in ICU.

About 8 I decided it would be in my best interest to wash a load of clothes as the ice was only getting worse and the electricity would probably be going off. I got the boys in bed be 9, I sat down to unwind and at 10:00 just when the news came on the electricity went off.

Armed with flash lights and cell phone we went to bed. And the electricity stayed off............to be continued.

Dec 9, 2007 The storm is here.

We woke several times during the night to hear the sleet pelting on the windows. Rusty was called to be at work at 11 AM tomorrow morning.

By 8:30 we were all up and getting our daily dose of caffeine. It was great to finally see Rusty in person and visit.

As soon as Rusty left for the station, BT Sarah and I piled into BT's Jeep, thank goodness for 4 wheel drive. The streets were ice covered as well as the entire city. It was just a short distance to their Walmart Grocery store, not like the super centers we have in Missouri. Between the 3 of us and a short list we managed to get quite a few groceries.

Back home we had ham and cheese sandwiches. BT had Orange juice to perk him up and for my perk Sarah got out her cappuccino machine! WOW what a treat. The poor dog didn't know what to think of the ice covered patio. She didn't spend too much time out there, except to free her toy from the inch thick later of ice. I wish I would have captured that on film. Sarah tried, but we never got my camera to do a video.

When Rusty came home early afternoon, him and BT got into a little competition with the Wii. Those are so much fun. We teased Sarah that she was getting us ready for the old folks home.

I made dinner of meatloaf, Aunt Janie's river potatoes as Sarah calls them, broccoli and rice casserole and Sarah did the blackberry cobbler, Cabin style.

The weather continued to deteriorate as the evening went on. Rusty headed to bed early because he had to get up 2 AM and report for work.