In high school in NEPA, my girlfriends and I would sneak out to Harvey's Lake in the evenings to listen to live music at Hanson's at Sandy Beach. The snow never deterred us. Usually I was the one driving my father's car. There was a group called the Buoys who had a one-hit wonder, Timothy, that was about boys getting lost in a coal mine and one (Timothy) never comes out. It alluded to cannibalism so it was banned and immediately rose to top ten in the nation. They were all local except for one band member, Rupert Holmes (the Pina Colada song). Good times! Driving 15 miles home on that slippery highway is one of the reasons I do not go out in the snow anymore.

In college, my roommate and I were downtown, really far from the dorm. It was snowing like crazy and blizzard winds. We decided to hitchhike back. A car pulled up with male students who asked us if we were in a hurry. We said no, got in the back seat and they shoveled snow in the car. They were in a huge snowball fight so we made the snowballs. Then they took us to the dorm and I still keep in touch with them, but I tend to keep in touch with everyone I've met. :)

Many more close calls but the one that sealed it for not going out if there is one snowflake is I was driving in a little Datsun 1200, my first car, from Philly to Danville, PA to see Crazy Guy for the weekend. Here I was on the NE Tpke sliding sideways as an 18 wheeler was about to hit me. I was doing everything I learned to correct it but nothing worked. He was blaring his horn when I gave it all up, slammed on my brakes, turned away from the skid, straightened out, and gained traction. He's behind me screaming into his CB that he can't believe what he just saw. I decided that night that if I lived through that I would never drive in the snow again.

The Allentown Howard Johnsons was just ahead and I pulled in literally prepared to stay for a week. There were about 100 truckers in the restaurant. After 3 hours, the State Police came in and announced that the roads had just been plowed and salted and we were going to get 8 more inches of snow and we should all leave now. By then, I had given up on going to Danville and would be happy to get to my parents' in Wilkes-Barre. Several truckers offered to get in front and behind me and take me down that hill. At least if I went off the mountain, someone would know where I was.