The Northern Michigan Geocaching Christmas Bash was today in Gaylord at B.C.'s Pizza. There were around 30 people there in spite of horrible traveling conditions. On the way over on M-72, Dick and I actually turned around at one point and headed back home. But the sky cleared a little, and the snow lightened, and so we turned around again and headed for Gaylord.
On the big hill just west of Kalkaska there was a terrible accident. We saw two vehicles which had been heavily damaged, more vehicles off on the side of the road, people running around the damaged cars. There was one police car there when we went past. As we went on toward Kalkaska, we saw 3 more police cars, 2 ambulances, and 2 fire department trucks heading for the accident. It was a little unnerving, but Dick remained unswerving. (Pun intended.)
The Bash was really a good time. It was fun to talk to other geo-cachers, and to meet old friends and lots of new ones. The pizza was great, and there was a nice salad bar. Everyone got gifts, exchanged signature items, took pictures, bought raffle tickets, and we all got souvenir mugs etched with the date of the party and the geo-caching logo. It reminded me of the type of favor you might get at a fraternity party.
The ride home was uneventful, though treacherous at times. We passed through rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain and I don't know what all. It took us about an hour and a half to get home, so the roads were better - because this morning it took us 2 and a half hours to get to Gaylord, counting turn around time.
Jim has arrived safely at Mother's from Saginaw, and we'll see him tomorrow.
This is Dick's version of our day:
We enjoyed much of the day, all except the driving. The National Weather Service in Grayling broadcast a Winter Storm Warning for the northwest lower peninsula ending with the following statement, "A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS." We waited until 10 AM to leave the house figuring that that would give the plows and traffic a chance to clear the roads. It took us an hour to travel 25 miles. We were in the blizzard that I said would foil our trip. When we saw that we were last in a line of 15 cars slipping and sliding along at 20 MPH we decided the GeoGods did not want us to attend event caches. We missed the last one because to damage to our cache mobile. Deciding we didn't want to mess up our new Forester, we turned back. As we headed for home with our tails between our legs, in less than 5 miles, the snow turned to rain and the roads were just wet and slushy and a plow was heading east. We discussed the situation and Geocaching won out over good sense. Turning around once more we pushed on past wrecks, 4 police cars, 2 ambulances, a rescue vehicle and a fire truck. It took us just under 3 hours to get to Gaylord and we both agree it was worth it. The food was good, the presents are neat and the mugs are fabulous. The companionship was the best of all. It was fun meeting folks from across the state and we are looking forward to seeing them and more at the Convergence in January. The drive home was a piece of cake. We saw nothing unusual. Of course one of us (the driver) had their eyes squeezed shut and the other was focused on the center of the lane we were in. Since the road was a two track in each direction, it was just like driving through the woods at 55. Once home, Nancy pried my hands from the wheel, led me into the house, put a drink in my hand and pointed me toward the computer. Thanks eb-ii and all the rest for a great day.
