The respite from the treacherous weather proved temporary. On Wednesday, December 30, the weather reports spoke of coming icy precipitation but with just a trace expected to remain. I didn’t set my alarm that night since a trace could be handled easily the next day, if necessary. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to three inches of snow. The temperature was already over freezing and a light rain was falling but I had no idea how much would melt off, and the three inches would insulate the remaining ice on the road so the snow had to go. The tractor worked fine on my road, but when I attempted to go up the hill to the hay barn, it began slipping and I was forced to stop. If I wasn’t very careful the tractor could slide down the hill and perhaps even tip over. I had my seat belt on, but the idea of the tractor flipping over was very unpleasant. I turned the steering wheel hard and started backing up very slowly. The front slipped a little but after 5 maneuvers, I was able to get turned around and safely drive back to the bottom of the hill. I decided to go around the hay barn by heading up through the pasture and then I worked my way down the road a half dozen times with the scraper blade chipping off a little of the softening ice with each pass.
I called the weather service and unfortunately, the next few days were going to be very cold with a chance of more precipitation. Now I had to worry about getting up to Clifton Forge on Sunday to catch the Amtrak train to San Antonio and Big Bend National Park, a vacation I had planned months ago. Already I began thinking of driving up on Saturday afternoon and getting a motel room, but that would mean I would be stuck in the tiny town for 24 hours. Big Bend, one of my favorite national parks, seemed far, far away.