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Spring has sprung (a leak)!
Well, we just returned from our annual Patriot's Day weekend trip to Pennsylvania. For the most part, the trip was uneventful - we went to our usual lodgings (a KOA kottage) via a route we have taken before. Nothing to eventful. Saturday we showed up at the site early, set up, and enjoyed lounging around. It was a sunny day, albeit a bit cool for the season. We had a good camp fire and cooked our dinner on it.
The big talk on television was of the Nor'easter expected to hit much of the East coast. Let's just say that it did, and it was interesting.
Saturday night, a light rain fell, soon after we had headed in for the night.
Sunday morning was cold, gray, and very rainy. This continued throughout the day. By mid-day, the proprietors of the campground had closed the lower section off completely due to some ponding and the potential for flooding. A creek runs through the middle of the campground. This creek is normally very docile and shallow, but this day it was quite tumultuous, lapping up against some of the tent sites.
So I did what any curious person would do, and took a walk in the rain. A bit up the road from the campground, the aforementioned creek joins with another. Again, normally it isn't too concerning, but this Sunday these creeks had joined to flood most of their surroundings, including a few backyards.
This would have been interesting in and of itself, but the temperature made it more so - 39 degrees F. Normally we are enjoying temperatures in the 70's. So, cold and wet, I made my way back to our cottage.
Eventually it was time for bed. It was a difficult night for sleep with the cacophony of rain, sleet, wind, and various tree parts beating up against the cottage. At one point, we heard a crack of thunder.
This morning (Monday), we had to head out. The morning greeted us with snow and wind, and a temperature near 35 degrees F. Besides this, a pine tree next to the cottage was getting ready to land on our car, as the dirt around the tree was mostly washed away.
We took some time to travel around familiar back roads in the area, and eventually headed North over the Blue Mountain. This brought us some horizontal snowfall, strong winds, and very little traffic.
Through the country roads we witnessed much flooded farmland and backyards. Many creeks were well over their banks, but fortunately the roads were not effected.
We crossed the Delaware Water Gap on I-80 - the homes along the banks of the river were starting to be lapped by the water, and as we drove into New Jersey, there were many quite spectacular waterfalls coming off the rocky cliffs. A rare sight to be sure.
Along I-87 in New York, we had a few close calls with some less-than-careful drivers that were rubbernecking; some of the Southbound lanes were closed due to flooding. Looking out into the countryside, there were several roads flooded clear across. On average, I'd say the water depths on these roads was about two-three feet deep - significant.
The Mass Pike was uneventful, just more rain, but no flooding. The Housatonic, Westfield, and Connecticut rivers are all flooded. Fortunately, the river that runs through my town is behaving thus far.
There are still plenty of bad drivers out there on the roads to keep us on our toes, but it was overall a relaxing weekend. We didn't do much country driving. Hopefully Spring will show up by Summer and we can get out there and enjoy it.
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Originally Posted by Mass Tim
