Saturday, February 29, 2020

PHEEBS SAYS, "AWWW NUTS MY DAD GOT THE JEEP STUCK THIS MORNING"

With icy winds pushing below freezing air across warmer Lake Huron waters overnight and this morning we ended up with heavy snow streamers coming in off the lake.  In other words we woke up to another two inch snow dump.  However, we're on the cusp of an uptake as skies brightened later in the morning and temperatures began to rise from a frigid 18F.
AT TIMES IT WAS SNOWING HEAVY
AND AT TIMES IT WAS CLEAR

SMALL DRIFTS ACROSS A SET OF RAILWAY TRACKS
Although snowing heavily Pheebs and I made our way slowly along Porter's Hill Line to Goderich.  Not another vehicle on the road and winds weren't nearly as bad as the three previous days.  It was an enjoyable ride through Huron Counties Christmas like countryside.
With not a lot of traffic out and about we took a swing down around the downtown core of Goderich.  The town is laid out like a huge wagon wheel with the County Courthouse in the center hub.  Streets branch out from the city core like spokes in a wagon wheel.  A one way 3 lane street with parking on either side rings the Courthouse so we circled around snapping a few pics.
GODERICH'S COUNTY COURTHOUSE

I BORROWED THIS AERIAL VIEW OF GODERICH FROM THE INTERNET
GODERICH'S BEDFORD HOTEL
SUMMER OUTDOOR CONCERTS ARE HELD HERE
A FEW GODERICH PEOPLE OUT BRAVING THE MORNING'S COLD
From uptown Goderich we slipped down around the north side of the harbor for a few pics.  
HEADING DOWN TO THE NORTH HARBOR
THAT BIG SHIP IS THE ALGOMA ENTERPRISE
DESPITE AIR HOSES IN THE WATER TO KEEP THE ALGOMA ENTERPRIZE'S RUDDERS AND PROPELLER FREE IT LOOKS LIKE THE HARBOR ICE HAS WON OUT
HARBOR WATERS ARE FROZE RIGHT UP
DON'T THINK THESE FISHING BOATS WILL BE GOING ANYWHERE FOR AWHILE
HARBOR WATERS DIDN'T FREEZE UP SMOOTH AS GLASS BY THE LOOKS OF IT

AND THIS FISH & CHIP PLACE IN THE HARBOR HAS FINALLY BEEN SOLD
Popped into Walmart for a few grocery items then headed east out of Goderich.  Decided to turn left off  highway 8 onto Orchard Line with the intent of stopping at the roads dead end to let Pheebs out for a run.  The road was only plowed in a few hundred yards to a building on the right and I could see there was no point in going any farther so decided to turn around at the building.  It had two driveways so I turned into one driveway, made my way the length of the building's parking lot and attempted to exit the second driveway.  Little did I know the second driveway had not been completed and within a couple seconds I was into deep snow and the ditch!!  And I was in there real good.  Despite the Jeep's four wheel drive and rugged tires I was beat.  Wheels were moving but the Jeep wasn't.  Oh Dear:((  Only one thing to do so it was out with my snow shovel which I always carry and I started shoveling snow and shoveling snow and shoveling snow.  The wind seeing my dilemma hurried over picking up and extra batch of snow along the way to hurl at me.  I worked away non stop digging out the tires and as much snow from under the Jeep I could get at.  The front end had plowed up a mound of snow as well so I got all that out of the way.  I was over half an hour digging myself out and my legs were beginning to feel a little weak.  I put two floor mats ahead of the rear tires and knew if I could just get the Jeep another foot forward the front wheels could grab onto the snow covered gravel road and maybe gain some traction.  In four wheel drive 'low' I carefully began my extraction.  Took a little finigilling back and forth a few inches until I had myself a short runway.  With a little more gas the rear tires grabbed the floor mats and lurched forward just enough for the front wheels to grab the road and with the front wheels pulling and the back wheels pushing the Jeep crawled itself out of the snowy ditch and up onto the road.  Bottom line......It was a combination of 3 factors which freed the Jeep.  Four wheel drive, the snow shovel, and me supplying the elbow grease.  Take away any one of those three things and we would have had to call a tow truck:((
BEFORE I COULD EVEN BEGIN SHOVELING OUT THE WHEELS I HAD TO DIG THE LENGTH OF THE JEEP SO I COULD GET AT THE SNOW UNDERNEATH HOLDING THE JEEP UP
SNOW WAS ABOUT 2 FEET DEEP
AT THIS POINT I HAVE THE JEEP ALL SHOVELED OUT BEST I CAN AND IT WAS TIME TO GIVE IT A GO
'WALLA' I'M OUT AND YES I DID REMEMBER TO PICK UP MY SNOW SHOVEL AND TWO FLOOR MATS
'YAHOUIE LOUIE' I'M BACK ON THE ROAD POINTED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
LOOKS LIKE I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE DIGGING OUT THIS MORNING
TOOK A FEW HORSE PICS ON THE WAY HOME AND HOW GREAT IT WAS TO SEE PATCHES OF BLUE SKY

GROANER'S CORNER:((  As the after dinner speaker gushed on and on, Deacon Miller nodded, and nodded until his head rested on the table cloth. The chairman reached over and tapped him lightly on the head with his gavel causing Deacon Miller to mumble, "Hit me harder, I can still hear him!!"
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11 comments:

  1. Thanks for reminding me why I will never spend another winter in Canada. It's really not suitable for human habitation!

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  2. Digging out the Jeep is not the preferred way to get your daily cardio in! well done tho, be prepared for self-extraction - never know when you'll need it.

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  3. I bought a D-90 as a retirement gift to myself early in 2009. Then next was a zoom lens, wide angle, macro, flash, filters etc. I loved that camera but no longer use because I started getting shoulder spasms due to the weight of the bag of lenses. Then I developed spasms with just weight of the camera alone. I would appreciate an update to a post I can not find where you detailed the cool pix mirrorless camera you have. That camera is $599+ tax here and to me that is a lot of money. But I miss having a real camera, I am ready to buy another, I am using my XS 10 iPhone now. Thanks, Glenda from Arkansas

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    1. Thanks for the questions Glenda. If you go to the top of my right hand column and find the 'Search' bar just type in Nikon Coolpix and it will bring up my posts for where I have mentioned the camera. If your having spasms due to the D-90's weight (I loved my D-90 too) you might find the Nikon Coolpix P900 a touch heavy for you also but at least you wouldn't have to carry around any lenses. The CP900 is basically a super lens with a camera attached to it. Best thing is to go into a camera store and ask to see the Nikon Coolpix then handle it to see if it might be too heavy for you. My Nikon D7200 has a Nikkor 18-300 lens on it and weighs about as much as a city bus. I do a lot of my mobile shooting with one hand so the first few weeks I had that camera and lens combo I had wrist problems but luckily my wrist strengthened up and has not been a problem ever since. Best of luck:))

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    2. Thanks for responding. I tried the search bar before the comment and again just now. Same message-“Page you are looking for does not exist”. I will check the camera out soon at a local store.

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  4. Hmmm...reminds me of another "getting stuck" story. Good thing we are both geniuses at getting out of sticky situations.

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  5. Nice pictures of the area and Goderich. I am so glad we don't have that snowy mess here at the coast. In fact there is no snow left here. Some trails are icy though. Gotta have cleats under your shoes.

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  6. It is hard to describe that feeling when you know you're caught and will be either shoveling, pushing or calling someone. It's a unique feeling in the pit of the stomach. Glad you made it out without toooooo much trouble.
    Surprised to see the bubblers not keeping the ice at least just sluggish around the hull of the boat, but maybe they moved them deeper to keep that ice from freezing. I would guess the top ice isn't too thick.
    Spring is coming Al, we can almost see it, taste it and hear it.

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  7. My dad always said you aren't stuck unless someone else has to pull you out - so good on you for NOT being stuck! That pic of the Jeep after you dug it out should be in their advertising - it's gorgeous. Love the falling snow pic and the beautiful winterscapes.

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  8. Heard on the news about all the snow coming your way and wondered how you were getting along.... getting stuck in all that snow did not look or sound like too much fun!! As always love your pictures...
    We have had NO snow at all this year, no shoveling!!! BUT looks dire for water this summer for irrigating....

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  9. Goderich really does have an interesting downtown!

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