Misadventures in the snow

So Saturday night Drew and I decided to brave the bad weather for a belated Valentine's dinner.  The weather must really be eating into the restaurant business.  I can't remember the last time I walked into Red Lobster on a Saturday night and didn't have to wait for a table, but with 3-5 inches of snow predicted...

Dinner was delightful, we stuffed ourselves on shrimp and lobster and cheddar biscuits.

Anyhow, after dinner, Drew wanted to stop at the ATM across the street, in the parking lot at the mall.  It wasn't a full branch of his bank, just a drive through kiosk.




Problem was, the bank closed the kiosk awhile back and removed the ATM. DreW wasn't aware of this because he usually banks at his own branch. The parking lot had been plowed after the first major snowstorm, but had not been plowed after the more recent storms. It was dark, it was snowing, and Drew didn't realize what he was getting us into when he drove into the lot.

We got stuck just as we were trying to pull out from under the awning.

So Drew tried to "rock" the car to free us from the snow. The tires were spinning, the transmission was bucking, I could smell burning rubber. I wanted to scream 'stop, stop, STOP!!!!" As I kept imagining ruined tires, a burnt-out transmission, or, worse, popped surgical stitches and a visit to the ER.

Eventually he gave up and called his emergency roadside assistance service. they sent a tow truck. The truck got stuck in the snow! Eventually he freed himself, but told Drew that the car was too far from dry pavement, that he wasn't able to connect the cables and couldn't pull us out of the parking lot. Really nasty guy, he just abandoned us.

Obviously Drew called the service to complain. They agreed to send someone else.in the meantime, Drew 'rocked" the car again. I felt the same waves of panic. But this time he was able to back up the car the way we came in. We got stuck again, but this time it was closer to the entrance. The second tow truck was able to pull us out ...

3 hours and $56 later, we made it home. Car is fine, Drew is ok, but yeah, I want to scream "Go away, snow!"