DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW . . .

Mike took an interest in the Troy (Idaho) High School football team and wanted to watch them play in the semi-finals against Prairie High School at the Kibbie Dome on the University of Idaho campus on Friday night (Nov. 15). (These are regional small high school teams.)

Now, I could care less about any football game. It’s not my thing, but it is Mike’s, and when he asked me to go, I agreed. But I looked at the weather forecast and didn’t think it was a good idea to travel the 30 miles north: snow and rain were predicted at 70-80-90 percent with temperature at 33 degrees. Oh – and wind.

 

Here in the valley, we have a rather mild winter compared to the upper country, where it’s a whole different world. Just a few miles out of our town at higher elevation and the weather can turn treacherous – snow, slick roads, poor visibility. In my mind’s eye I could see the snow swirling in front of us obliterating the visibility.

My rule of thumb for travel in wintry weather is not to travel if I don’t have to, but Mike didn’t think the weather would be a problem. I didn’t want to use the forecast as an excuse not to go. Mike wanted to go and I wanted to be supportive, so at 4:00 p.m. we put the dogs to bed early and left for Moscow. It was raining in our valley.

At the top of the Lewiston Hill – and even at Genesee (about half way to Moscow) – it was misting lightly, but as we traveled it became snow. By the time we arrived in Moscow, it was snow floor and snowing. “This is exactly how I thought it would look,” I said.

 

A part of the deal was a trip to Winco (grocery store known for low prices), so that was our first stop. We shopped for half an hour or so, and when we left the store we had to wade through Lake Winco to get to our car. We had both dressed warmly but I didn’t wear boots. At this point Mike abandoned all thought of geocaching and tossed the GPS into the backseat.

It continued to snow and the traffic was terrible! After a light supper at a Subway near campus, we traveled to the Kibbie Dome and parked. They were shoveling pathways with a little snowplow.

You’ve likely seen a football game so I won’t describe that. Our team (Troy) won, but it wasn’t a runaway and I wasn’t always proud of them. They now advance to the state final in Pocatello next week. That’s a day’s drive from here. (No! We aren’t going.)

As we sat in the stadium, we heard reports from latecomers of continued wintry weather outside. We were ready to dash for the car as soon as the game was over.  Now there were inches of snow. We took a less trafficked route from campus to the highway, and accomplishing that felt like the first hurdle. Snowplows were working on the highway but not staying ahead of the accumulation. Traffic was light and slow. It was difficult to see.

 

It was snowing and blowing at 32 degrees all the way to the top of the Lewiston Hill – about 24 miles. Then it was abruptly warmer and the snow turned to rain. By the time we reached the valley, it was 42 degrees. No snow here.

[There are no photographs of the winter weather conditions, so as I walked Bess and Nellie yesterday, I took these pictures of the surrounding hills. In the last photo, the pole barn garage with green roof in the center of the picture is ours.] KW