Last year was, by all accounts, a pretty mild winter according to those who’ve been around here awhile.  At least, it was as mild as winter ever gets up at this altitude.  Readers may recall that we had a fair number of challenges, especially since we were still living in the 5th wheel; an experience I’m glad we had, but not one that I feel we need to repeat.

In an effort to stay warm, we went through an average of two tanks of propane every six days or so, and we ran out (always in the middle of the night, of course) several times.  Our daytime temperatures rarely rose above the freezing mark and many nights saw the mercury dip below zero.  Our fresh water tank froze a couple of times, which made life a little uncomfortable, and the trips out to the porta-potty in the snow and wind were downright unpleasant (trudging through the snow, not the porta-potty….  it was cleaned quite regularly).  The wind blew hard enough to flip over the previous occupant’s pickup camper, and we spent many nights sleeping with the slides pulled in so the 50 and 60mph gusts wouldn’t rip off the awnings.  It snowed several times, but it never really accumulated and it never stuck around more than a few days.  In short, it was a pretty mild winter.

Like I said, it snowed, and it was often windy, but the wind never blew the snow around.  If that doesn’t make any sense, please don’t worry, I sometimes confuse me, too.  Some readers may remember our friend, Fred.  The first time we met him, he warned us about our driveway and how the deep snow could make it impassable, but we just didn’t experience it last year.  Winter is still technically a week off, and we now understand what he was trying to describe to us.  Our first snowfall was on Halloween, though I doubt the 8 inches we got during the day had much to do with the lack of trick-or-treaters that evening.  Since then, it’s snowed six more times, for a total of almost 20 inches so far.  This year, though, it’s not melting off down in the valley, and each time the wind blows, it drifts up the hill and across the lower portion of our driveway.

A few weeks ago, we had about an inch here at the house, but as we rounded the corner to head down the hill, we found that much of the way down was under close to two feet of the white stuff.  Four wheel drive got us down and back, but a couple of hours with the plow on my quad cleared things up nicely.  I doubt that Santa will bring me a new plow with an enclosed, heated cab, so I’m hoping he at least drops of a new hat with ear flaps and a warmer pair of gloves.  The driveway is clear for now, so he shouldn’t have any trouble getting up here.

I called a guy who runs a snow clearing ‘business’ to see if we could get him on retainer in case things get really bad.  It turns out, he was hired to clear the road once before when the realtor was trying to sell this place.  His advice was to buy snowmobiles; saying it would be the cheaper option since he once spent 40 hours (at $250 an hour) getting the driveway open.  Basically, he just wasn’t interested, though he did suggest I take a look at the album on his website entitled ‘Driveways from Hell‘.  I did.  These before and after pictures are the only two photos he had posted there.

Frankly, I think he may have gone a little overboard since the real estate broker had pretty much given him a blank check, but we’re hoping that if I can just keep up with it, we won’t have too much of a problem. Otherwise, I guess we just try to hold out until spring when the snow melts and the road opens up on it’s own.  How hard can that be? It’s only a few months away!

Our new home has given us plenty of challenges, and winter is certainly one of the big ones.  The house is a far more comfortable place to spend it than the trailer, and we’re about as ready as we can be.  The 1000 gallon propane tank got topped off the other day, so the furnace and hot water heater should be able to run until Spring.  Our new fireplace insert is far more efficient at helping the furnace keep the house warm, and I have enough firewood stacked under the porch to last us a few months.  There’s food in the freezer and pantry and I made sure the internet and satellite tv bills are paid, so we still have our phones and I can watch Hogan’s Heroes every night.  I guess life isn’t THAT tough after all.