It Will Far Surpass Anything We've Seen...

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

I am sitting in a bus right now, bound for Rexburg, Idaho. The roads look completely white, although it has stopped snowing—an hour ago there was so much snow coming down that people running from a gas station to the bus got here with a layer of snow in their hair half an inch thick. And to think, in North Carolina we consider it a good year if we get half an inch of snow over the entire year.

This afternoon at about 1 oclock, BYU sent out a message to all students with news of a major storm coming; a storm that “will far surpass anything we've seen, probably for the last several years.” My mom texted me anxiously: “There's a big storm coming. Make sure to pack a blanket and lots of water for the bus ride up.”

A blanket and water? For a bus ride? The only reason I can think of for needing more than a jacket would be if the bus was snowed to a stop and we spent some time sitting on the side of the road... in the middle of nowhere... Slightly nervous, I mentioned to my roommate and his sister that I was taking the Salt Lake Express up to Rexburg in a few hours.

My roommate's sister's response was blunt. “You're screwed!”

Getting quite nervous at this point, I ran to the creamery and bought a loaf of bread to make sandwiches and a bag of trail mix (the sandwiches were good. Haven't made it to the trail mix yet). I packed the blanket off my bed into my suitcase along with an extra bottle of water.

My greeting upon boarding the bus was encouraging. “Hey good, you're the last one here. There's a big one coming and all the roads are closing down, but we'll get you through somehow!”

And so we began. On to the airport. Past the airport to a gas station where they transferred us to another bus after we stocked up on more snacks and water. After sitting on the bus for a few minutes, the driver poked his head back in the door. “Change of plans! We're going back to the other bus, we have to go back to the airport to pick up some people and they won't all fit in here.”

We left the airport for the second time a few minutes ago. The roads are closed ahead of us, but we are going to “hope they open fast, because we're waiting until they do.” Estimates at our ETA are 10-14 hours.

I was talking to the girl sitting in front of me about how great a 14 hour bus ride would be. “Yep,” she said, “Just changed my Facebook status to 'the adventure begins'...”

PS.

The storm was kind of a dud.

Sure, there was a lot of snow, but we never had to wait for a road to open, and our only real delay was going back to the airport the second time. We got to Rexburg a little after 12; still 2 hours late, but not 6 hours late like I was expecting.

Truth be told, I'm kind of bummed! I was ready for this storm--it would have made a great story to tell my kids someday.