If you read part 1 of House Trailer Traveling Through a Winter Blizzard, you already know how we came to do such a foolish thing as pulling a 36 foot house trailer (with a passenger car) through a severe winter blizzard. You have also probably marveled at how we managed to get through that first day of travel unscathed. Yes, miracles do still happen.
When I left the first part of the story, we had experienced 3 amazing encounters with fellow travelers at the 3 most crucial points in our journey. After that final turnaround rescue, we were now retracing our way back to where we had gotten off course.
Nightfall in Erie, Pennsylvania as the Winter Blizzard Intensified
By the time we got back to where we had missed the turnoff for Erie, Pennsylvania, it was getting dark fast. As we rolled into Erie, we had a moments laugh as we passed the Erie Cemetery. But that was just a moment of relief from the tension of the day. We now were facing another serious problem.
It was already dark, we were tired and hungry, and the snow was accumulating so rapidly that it was already ¾ of the way up the hubcaps of the wheels. We didn’t dare get off of our route one more time, but because of the severity of the blizzard we weren’t seeing any open restaurants. Even if we did see something open, where would we park our rig?
Trip Miracle # 4:
Suddenly, just down the road, we spotted neon lights. As we approached we saw that it was a tavern that served food – and it was open. The tavern catered to truck drivers, so they had a large parking lot that already had several tractor-trailers parked.
Miracle # 5:
Once we finished our dinner, we asked about lodgings for the night. The tavern had rooms upstairs that they rented out to the truck drivers. We were told that under normal circumstances they never rented out their rooms to women, but because of the terrible blizzard that night, they would make an exception.
Miracle # 6:
Our final trip miracle was probably our biggest. So many times we aren’t aware of how we have been spared disaster when the kind of aggravations and delays that had hounded us on this journey occur.
When the morning of the second day dawned, we were greeted by sunshine and a bright blue sky. The blizzard had passed by during the night. As we sat in the dining area having our breakfast, our attention was drawn to the TV over the bar. The news report was all about the effects of the blizzard and the condition of the roadways. Then we heard it. During the afternoon of the day before, a house trailer that was being pulled by a commercial trucking company had been blown over on the Buffalo bridge we would have been crossing at about that same time had we not gotten lost.
I would NEVER advise anyone to pull a house trailer through a severe winter blizzard with a passenger car. Talk about stupidity, that is it! No doubt about it, we were extremely lucky! But looking back on that “adventure,” I can say that that trip through the blizzard taught me many lessons about thankfulness and gratitude. It also taught me that many times we complain about things when they are being worked for our good. Those are lessons we all need to learn.
