Blizzapalooza 2009

OK, I'll just start out by saying that yes, I knew it was really snowy when Lily and I headed out to see our friend Lindsey perform at The Kennedy Center yesterday. But DC always complains about the snow. I just figured it was another one of those "mountain out of a molehill" things.

When we woke up, the news was saying there were 5" of snow on the ground and it was expected to continue throughout the day. Buses were only running on emergency snow routes, so Lily and I suited up and trudged about 1/2 mile to a major artery. No problem.

But, as the driver was letting us off at the Metro stop, he said, "I don't know where you folks are going, but they're pulling the buses off the streets." I knew right then, of course, that Lily and I were going to have some serious challenges getting home. But we had a concert to get to. I'd worry about that later.

Here's Lily wearing her new Christmas dress inside The Kennedy Center. Ah, how lovely.

And in front of a bust of JFK.

Here she is with Miss Lindsey, the reason for our adventure.

So after the concert, things looked more like this. With no buses or taxis to get us home--and with Metro only running at underground stations--the four of us (me, Lily, Lindsey, and her husband, Rich) went to Dupont, where there would be (we hoped) numerous options for lodging and dining. The trains were running very slowly, and it took us about 45 minutes to catch a train. Lily lay down and fell asleep on the train platform. Parent of the year award, anyone?

Once we got to Dupont, it took us forever to find a restaurant that was open. None of us had eaten since breakfast and we were definitely feeling it. And the snow and wind didn't help. The most upbeat of the bunch, Lily stopped along the way to make a snow angel.

We ended up at a swanky hotel that gave us a rather affordable "snow rate" -- either that, or they took mercy on three adults stranded (2 miles from home, mind you) with a 4-year-old. Lily and I spent the evening watching "Wizard of Oz." The above shot is Lily doing a karate punch in the hotel's leopard-print robe.

Thankfully, the snow stopped overnight. This is the view from our hotel window this morning.

When we heard that bus service resumed along emergency routes Sunday morning, we trudged our way back to a Metro station to meet up with a running bus line.

Bus service was still spotty, as you can imagine. So again, Lily took advantage by making a "snow volcano." Lindsey ran across the street to Starbucks.

Lily getting caught in a drift of snow behind the bus stop.

Home at last! That's our car under all that snow. And Andy had already shoveled the driveway once, otherwise it would have looked even more impressive.

Reunited with Amalia and Andy, we spent much of the day catching up on Christmas preparations, like decorating the tree and hanging stockings.

What an adventure. Certainly a weekend to remember. And Lily was a trooper the entire time. Never a word of complaint. In fact, I think between the snow and staying in a hotel, the whole thing was quite a thrill for her.

Me, too, come to think of it.