| I saw the big black clouds as I headed North on my trip from Factoria to Kirkland. This is normally a one hour trip. About half way through the trip the tiny hail started to fall. Down it came so fast that two blocks later the street was covered with the ice balls. This brought the early rush hour traffic to a crawl. Then the bigger hail hit as we listened to them thump the bus. Now the streets were turning to sheets of ice. Just as I was passing the huge Microsoft campus, it seemed as everyone decided to go home. I only had to cross Rose Hill and go down to Kirkland. Many unprepared drivers were sliding out of control and bumping into each other. Then they would block the street waiting for someone to help push them to the side. I finally made it to Kirkland after two and a half hours on the road. I dropped off the last passengers and loaded those wanting to go to Factoria and headed out. The dispatcher called all buses and told them he didn't want anyone to call unless they were in an accident or were stuck, and he already had a hundred of those calls. He said trucks with chains for the buses were being dispatched. As I inched along at from 2 to 4 miles per hour, I wished I had some chains. Even with chains, traffic was backed up and at a standstill almost the entire trip. Three hours were needed to get though this normally one hour run and I was lucky to have very easy going people on the bus. Yes, a couple did decide to get off and walk, because that was faster. I never made my last round trip as it was already over an hour past my quit time. So, I got some good overtime, didn't have an accident and checked out a beauty of a storm that's probably headed for Denver next. The temperature is headed for 22 degrees tonight, so all this snow should freeze good. At least we haven't had any major winds with this storm. |