Friday, December 21, 2007

Storm Refugees from a storm that never actually hit...

Last weekend, we went out and got everything we needed to brave the winter storm that was supposed to come through. It was supposed to start on Saturday night and have a "wintry mix" of precipitation. Well, nothing happened on Saturday, it stayed somewhat warm (high 40s / low 50s??) and we got little to no precipitation. On Sunday afternoon, we headed out to church. Dave couldn't find the regular van key, so he grabbed the spare key and we were off...
During church, the power went off, not only in that area, but for much of Western Loudoun County. Church was let out early and we went home. On our way home, we were trying to figure out what we could eat that didn't require cooking. We were glad that we had food and everything else we needed to survive the night. Overall, we were excited about the possibility of a nice electricity-free evening. As we turned into our neighborhood, I went to push the button to open our garage door. Before I even pushed the button, the following conversation happened in my head, faster than lightening.
"We need electricity to open the garage door."
"We will have to just open the front door."
"We don't have our house key on the spare key chain."

I then turned to my husband and said, "We can't get into the house." We tried pushing the button anyway, lots of times, just waiting for the miracle, that surge of power that would open that garage door. We checked all the doors and windows, all locked tight, as they should be...

We left our cell numbers with the neighbors with instruction to call us if the power came back on and we were off. We called Dave's parents and asked if we could come out to there house for the evening. Of course, we were met with dinner and freshly made caramel corn! Yes, Dave's Mom is amazing! We just waited, not sure if the power would come on that night or if we would spending the night. They were very gracious even though we envaded their home pretty much un announced...

The power came on at 8pm. Some in the area were without power for more than 24 hours. We were grateful to spend the night in our own beds, but even more grateful for family that opened their home to us!

3 comments:

The Petersons said...

Well, I, too , would have come to my house, and would have given you a peanut butter sandwich if I had been home! Don't try to make me feel guilty with caramel corn comment--I know Dave's mother is amazing!!!!! You are very lucky to be part of that family. And, by the way, you express yourself very well in your blog. Oh, and we love you...Mom

The Petersons said...

Sorry for the typo--I meant to say I too would have let you come to my house

ctarbet said...

I wasn't trying to make you feel bad... and we almost went to your house, but not the one in Switzerland. So you will have to take us in sometime after you get back. We'll make sure to come unannounced sometime...