Is Winter Over Yet?

All of us Bend woke up to a bit of snow — which meant there was a ton at my office in Sunriver (we’ve got about six to eight inches in some spots and it’s still coming down). I’ve ranted about my commute before, but it’s days like this I fear the worst. I have no problems driving in the snow at all, but it’s everybody else’s ability I worry about.

So I brushed the snow off my car, and sat down in my car, realized it was leaning to one side a bit more than usual. My fears were confirmed when I got out of the car and saw a completely flat tire in the back (my guess is a stud went through). My wife needed the minivan off and on all day and really couldn’t drive me out to work and back (she has to run the kids someplace as I was getting off work), so I called the office, said I’d be late, and called my in-laws to see if I could borrow their car (as they don’t like driving in this anyway). It only has studs on the front, so I was sliding around pretty much every corner I took.

On my way out to Sunriver, I saw several people off the road, including this unlucky sap who managed to throw himself on his side right across from the High Desert Museum:

(Sorry about the picture quality, but cell phone cameras aren’t known for their quality, and I was driving slowly by while I took this blindly.)

It was a small SUV that was on its side, and I have no idea what state the plates were from, but it appears that everybody’s fine as there were no medical personnel there. No idea how he did that.

The mountains can have all the snow they want, I just want to drive to work without having to worry about these guys.