A good story can be repeated over and over again and it never loses its appeal. And there are some experiences in life that make good stories. Of course, often in the moment you’re not thinking about the potential good story that will come out of it. Here’s an example.
During University I went to visit my good friend Kristen in Florida over the Christmas break. While I was gone, there was a major snowstorm in Manitoba. I had left my car parked at the airport while I was away (which is a downside to living by yourself and having your family so far away – you either have to keep your car at the airport or beg friends to drop you off and pick you up).
On my arrival in Winnipeg the airport shuttle brought me from the terminal to the parking lot where my car was supposed to be. We circled the parking lot a few times because I couldn’t spot my car, finally stopping where I was quite sure I had parked it. All we could see was a pile of snow between two large pick up trucks. Turns out my car was buried under that pile of snow! The shuttle driver hands me a shovel and says, “good luck.” Thanks a lot! Well, I guess I should be grateful for the shovel, right? Here I was in -30 Celsius temperatures in the middle of the night wearing a summer jacket digging out my car (my cold winter jacket was inside the car).
The only good news is that the car was still plugged in so I managed to get it started after it was uncovered. But I was not a happy camper. As I slowly maneuvered my way home it started making weird noises. Now, I’m no car expert so I didn’t know whether to keep driving or stop. I pulled into a parking lot and made a call… to guess who? My parents. Who else am I going to call? I’m sure some of you have done this same thing. You know full well that they can’t help you because they live hours away and you’re on your own, but you call anyway. And of course they offered to drive into the city at that hour but that would have been ridiculous.
So I decided to continue driving home despite the noises thinking this night could not possibly get any worse. Wrong. As if I hadn’t done enough shovelling I arrived at home to find a large pile of snow in front of the garage where I had to park. I couldn’t park on the street because there was a parking ban in effect. So I had no choice but to clear that pile of snow as well. I was cold and tired and thinking I should have stayed in warm, sunny Florida.
Do you have a winter horror story? I love reading a good story. Please share it below.
Rural Route Ramblings 
Oh yes, I have a story. It was March 1997. My family and I were heading to Brandon for the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair with my aunt, uncle and cousins. When we left, it was +10, so we were wearing spring jackets and runners. No winter gear necessary! Well, the day we were supposed to return home, it started snowing and heavily. We managed to get only as far as Portage La Prairie before my dad wasn’t able to see any of the TransCanada. We were lucky enough to get one of the last hotel rooms in the nearest hotel. We watched the snow pound the city and could barely even see 10 feet outside our hotel window. My cousins and I spent the next 2 days in the hotel pool making the most of it but were bored out of our minds. As the night wore on, we saw more and more people forced off the side of the road having to spend the night sleeping on the floor in the hotel lobby because there was no space left! The vending machines were cleaned out completely!
At one point, the hotel kitchen said they were out of food. My aunt asked “do you have bread? Do you have lunch meat or peanut butter?” The answer was yes. “Make some sandwiches!” she said. Once the snow let up, hotel staff were out on skidoos making trips across the street for supplies at the local Walmart.
We were finally able to make it to Winnipeg, BUT Winnipeg was still under many feet of snow and we could not get our car to our back lane. My dad had to abandon it at the end of the street as we trudged in snow above our knees down our back lane. Remember, we had runners on, spring coats and no toques, gloves or scarves! We walk up to our garage to see the entire door is covered in snow – like 10 feet+. So, we begin trying to knock it down to get in the big back door. We get through to open the other door to the backyard, and same story. We finally got into the house, but I don’t remember how dad got the car to the garage or when the snow was finally cleared up. None of us will ever forget the big blizzard of ’97.
Great story, Candace! Thanks for sharing. Yes, no one will forget the big blizzard of 1997. My family actually has a similar story for that blizzard. We were staying in a hotel in Grand Forks and got snowed in there – had to stay an extra couple nights there. And same situation, the hotel ran out of food. We were eating from the vending machine and walking to the nearby gas station and buying that delicious food. Good times!