Christmas in Michigan was awesome. Had a great time with my brother Steve and my nephew Stephen. We stayed with Stephen's family and loved our time with Krysten, Sergio, and Eliana. Family bowling and lots of Wii play! Micah, Annie, Ty and Micah Jr. met us for dinner on Christmas night at John and Thelma's (Steve's mother and father in-law) for some warm conversation and yet another chance to eat a holiday meal!
We had some great family time sharing meals, presents, conversation and laughter!
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| Four of My Michigan Duffys, (Lynn and my brother Steve on the right) |
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Krysten, Sergio, Eliana, and Stephen opening presents! |
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| John and Linda (Krysten's parents) |
A planned attempted to touch on the high points in either Pennsylvania (Mt. Davis 3213 ft) or Ohio (Campbell Hill 1,549 feet) on our return trip had to be aborted, as we made an ill advised run to return to NYC ahead of the big Blizzard of 2010. We left early, 7:30 am, planning to outrun the storm and arrive in NYC just in time. But, we did not succeed in getting ahead of it. Still it resulted in one of our more memorable family experiences.
All was going smoothly as we entered the Delaware Water Gap just after 5:30 pm but things went quickly "south" as we continued eastward. Traveling on Route 280 turned ugly as the snow intensified and the snow plows lost control of the rapidly falling snow. As we approached West Orange, New Jersey all traffic came to a complete standstill. It turned out that everyone trying to exit there was stuck and/or had spun out and blocked the roadway. The stranded traffic in front included a semi-tractor trailer and a bus. Some brave souls eventually emerged from the hundreds of cars trapped there and began to push away the smaller vehicles in front...I gunned my engine and shot off like a cork from a champagne bottle only to find that I and two other vehicles were now the only vehicles moving on 280 toward the NJ Turnpike. Two and a half white knuckled hours later, we entered the Lincoln Tunnel and succeeded in traveling where no vehicle had moved for long, the streets of my neighborhood in Manhattan. True to my usual charmed parking life there was a spot, I said my last prayer for the night and we were home!!!
This will be the closest that my family will come with me to experiencing a blinding alpine snow storm. 40-60 mph winds and blizzard conditions were all part of one of the biggest storms ever to hit the NY/NJ area. As unplanned and scary as it was, it turned out to be an amazing conquest, taking Manhattan together under the most difficult circumstances. Sometimes adventure comes when we least expect it.
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| Home safely with the snow still falling |
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| A bus and cab, both trapped on our corner, were still there in the morning |
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That's a car in front of our building after the 20" of snow finally stopped falling!
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