Jim & Leslie's Adventures

Mar 22nd, 2009 EpiBlog

March is suppose to come in like a Lamb and go out like a Lion … or the other way round. Not us. We went out with the Lion, and came back with one too! (And no, we did not see any lions in Abidjan. The only one in the city escaped the zoo and the police had to shoot it.)

It is tradition in Newfoundland to have a storm right around St Patrick’s Day. It is often one of the worst storms of the year and is called “Sheila’s Brush”. Sure enough, it was waiting for us to get home.

Thursday we heard that ‘weather’ was expected. We were to fly out on Friday evening, so we started worrying. It held off. Now all predictions were for Saturday. Friday, we set off. Serge & Lynn drove us to Montreal and we joked about the weather and being stranded along the way. Serge suggested the title of this blog (and this really is my last one!)

Our plan was to stay over night in St John’s. We were only getting in at midnight and it is a three and a half hour drive home in good conditions. However, as the predictions of the storm got worse, we imagined being stuck in town until Monday and then losing the first two days of the week. Sigh.

By the time we got in we had decided to make a run for it. I drove a bit, but could barely stay awake (remains of the drugs), so Leslie did most of the driving. The weather was good, only some flurries.

It was a good thing we fled. By 7 am St. John’s was being smashed. Much later, it caught up to Bonavista, but we were snug at home by then. Over 20 cm of snow and now freezing rain on top of it! Sheila is brushing (sweeping) heaven out good!

All’s well that ends well. Now to unpack our suitcases (but not our memories), and refocus on the work at hand. But now with a slightly different perspective ….

Posted in The Really Big Trip by jimt with 5 comments.