In the winter of 1996-1997,
there was a huge snowstorm in the northeast -- big blizzard. A friend of
mine, Russ, had come up from Texas on a layover on his way to France to
retrieve a satellite for Nasa. The storm hit the night he arrived. I had
borrowed a car, and for reasons best left unmentioned, the next day (still
snowing) we finally decided to get in the tiny Mazda 323 hatchback and drive
the NJ Turnpike in the worst snowstorm in 20 years. We didn't get above 35
mph, and on exiting the turnpike we had to shovel and push our way down
the exit ramp. On arriving in my parents' home town, the roads hadn't
been plowed at all, so we shoveled a hole in the snowdrift by the curb,
pushed the car sideways into the parking spot, and abandoned it, about a
mile and a half from our destination. (We put it under a light post so as to
be able to find it after it was snowed over and plowed in.) We then attempted
to get out to the Trenton train station in a minivan, but couldn't get
farther than 500 feet from the house.
The next day, a state of emergency was declared. National Guard trucks were
dispatched to take nurses, firemen, police, etc to work. All airports were
closed. We managed to make it to the train station that day. For my friend
Russ, this was an amazing state of affairs -- he'd never seen so much snow in
his life. His 2 day stopover turned into a week and a half due to airline
delays and airport closures. Here are some pics. Russ is the blond guy, my
roomate Jim is the black-haired guy, and I'm the longhair (although not
anymore, alas).
