Be Prepared…

...and how being prepared turned a major disaster into just a major headache...

Ah, Christmas time! Family, friends, big meals, travel, and snowy weather. What could be a better wrap up to the year? How about forecasts of a major winter storm barreling your way, right through the route you need to reach your family that is 350 miles away?

Here’s what I did last weekend. A lot of my family lives in and around Huntington, WV so that is where we gather for holidays. I live in Richmond, VA. I decided to take off early from work on Friday, December 18^th, and get a head start after seeing the forecast for a major winter storm predicting feet of snow in some areas. The predictions were that the snow would reach Beckley, WV about 5:00PM that evening. I’d be just about there at that time, and I figured that would put me enough ahead of the storm that I could make it to Huntington by about 7:15 that night. Note that my original plan was to leave after a Christmas party that night, about 9:00PM, drive halfway and “camp” in the jeep, then head into Huntington on Saturday morning. Well, that’s sort of what happened. At least the camping part.