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So THIS is What Cold Feels Like!

Cory teased me about the title of this blog when I started it back in June when I moved up here since it was the warmest summer Anchorage has seen in a decade. I was of course very aware that is wasn't actually cold outside (yet). It was more of a way to express the drastic change for a desert rat moving so far north ("North to the Future" is Alaska's state motto, by the way.) A foreshadowing, if you will, of the culture shock I would soon experience.

That time is now.

The biggest kicker is that it's not even "that cold" yet. It seems that 14 degrees is just the tip of the iceberg. Pun intended. I'm handling it better than I thought I would so far. I haven't spent a ton of time outside yet, and walking to and from my car isn't a big deal. It helps that I splurged for a remote starter so my car is warm by the time I have to get in. I don't regret it one bit!

What's worse than the cold itself is driving in it. Besides the fluke we had back in September, this past Saturday was the first snow that really stuck. It wasn't very thick to start, so it just made the roads really slippery. I had a dream that day that my brakes wouldn't work and I kept sliding around causing accidents left and right. Not cool. That night as I drove to work, I slid on the ice twice, once hitting a curb. My car is all wheel drive, but I didn't have my studded tires on yet. You can hear all of the best advice multiple times from people trying to prepare you for such a situation, but you still can't help but panic and fear for your life when you actually experience it. The next night, Cory came over to ride with me to work (Starbucks in hand) and give me a mini driving lesson, drop me off, spend 3 hours in my driveway in the snowfall changing out my tires and fixing a headlight, and bringing it back to work for me. As if I don't say it enough...I love that man so stinking much!

Driving has certainly gotten easier, especially since it hasn't snowed since Sunday. Here's what I've learned so far...
1. Going 20 under the speed limit is pretty typical. You don't judge other drivers for going even slower. You feel like a daredevil going the speed limit. You judge anyone going over it.
2. You can forget about defined lanes. You follow the car in front of you or track marks if they're there. If you're the only one on the road, just don't run into anything. Once the snow clears enough to see the painted lines, you still just follow the track marks even though they're way off.
3. Running red lights is borderline acceptable. Sometimes it's safer to keep going instead of breaking to stop.
4. For this reason, going as soon as the light turns green is foolish. You have to look out for sliders.
5. Fog is the worst. As if you can't see the road well enough already. I bet it won't seem so bad once I experience frozen rain or a complete whiteout though.
6. Snow plows are actually just tractors. I don't know why this surprised me so much. I guess I expected them to look like giant road sweepers. Maybe there's a variety. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I'm sure there will be many more experiences to share. One that I CAN'T WAIT to share is Ben, Laura, and Brynley coming to visit! Laura and Bryn will be here tomorrow, and sadly Ben can't come till Wednesday, but oh what fun we will have!!! Plus, Cory took next week off of work (as did I) so he can spend as much time as he can with us. I'm giddy with excitement!!!







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