Another post about the weather...

We had big plans last weekend. Planned on letting the girls skip school Friday and head to Carrington for the weekend. But, living in the frigid, icebound north, plans can often change at the drop of a hat.

Weather reports didn't look good for late Friday and the rest of the weekend. But we thought, if we left early enough, we'd get to Carrington ahead of the storm and have some fun anyway.

Well, it rained all night thursday. Yes, I said rained. And yes, that means ice. Lots of ice.

We thought we'd go anyway. Just drive slow.
We hit the road early. I called the school on our way to let them know the girls would be absent, only to find out school had been cancelled. I began to have doubts about the wisdom of our drive.

We drove on anyway.

About an hour out of Mobridge, we stopped food. As I stood in line in the gas station listening to the locals bemoan the horrid conditions, I began to get very apprehensive.

Back in the car, Ryan and I decided it was best to head back home. Things were getting ugly fast.

It continued to rain, quickly coating everything (roads, windshields, powerlines) in a very thick layer of ice. We made it back to Mobridge just in time for the wind to seriously pick up. Wasn't long before power became a luxury.

Powerlines were dropping all over the state.

We were quite lucky in Mobridge. Power was on and off enough for us to keep the house warm. Others weren't so lucky. Sunday was the worst. No power all day. Ryan, the girls and I spent a few hours at Alco escorting customers around the store with flashlights. Cooporate wouldn't let them close.

Monday arrived with more ice, and horrible winds, no school, but power had been resored.

School resumed, albeit late, on Tuesday. But many people thoughout the state are still without power and many even without water. What a mess.

Glad I'm not a lineman. That's some hellish working conditions.