Today is Tuesday, the 22nd of November, a date which looks very cool written out as 11/22/22 for all you Magic Numbers buffs, and as 22/11/22 for the even cooler Euro crowd. But I digress.
Two weeks ago today, under the dark light of a full moon total eclipse, I was waking up at a Quality Inn in Dunkirk NY. Some of you may recall the travails of the previous day when clever Clyde, the cat, delayed our departure by three hours. We had been headed for Cleveland on Day 1. We weren’t supposed to spend the night in Dunkirk/Fredonia (two towns joined at the hip) at all, nor be departing from such an eastern point on Tuesday, November 8th. I ended up spending an exhausting 11 hours on the road that day, making up time lost by errant feline. It was a very long day, but at least the weather was clear.
Well, get a load of this:
This past weekend, a mere ten days after I passed through the region, this happened. Talk about a delay! A record-setting snowfall led to a State of Emergency with travel bans issued for Erie County and surrounding areas. The entire I-90 was shut down—all the way from Buffalo to…wait for it… Dunkirk/Fredonia. My exact route!
Seems a bit surreal, writing this from the California desert where a “cold snap” has been keeping daytime temps in the low-to-mid 70s. But back in upstate New York, things got pretty messy. Hardworking crews are still cleaning it up.
“The heavy snow made for dangerous travel conditions, according to the state Thruway Authority…More than 1,000 state Department of Transportation employees, state troopers and National Guard members are on the ground in Western New York and in the North Country to address the lake-effect snow.“
Guess I was playing it risky by waiting a full week into November to commence my cross country sojourn. Next year, I’ll plan for October. Hate to miss the leaves, love to miss the blizzards. 🌵OBC🦉
One Bold Crone 