Poll of the Day > Misadventures of Christmas 2022

(+) Yeah! (+)

So here in Washington we had a cold/freeze on the 23rd. That just happened to be the day that I was going to drive up to some friends house about 2 hours away, and then we all were going to drive to Levenworth together and spend Christmas together.

Now most of my life I have lived in CA, I didn't do snow at all before I got here, and I rarely drove in snow even once I did, I just didn't go out if it was snowing etc.

But I was smart, I parked my car at the top of the hill here (can't get up it with snow/ice, wet leaves, too much rain or probably high winds (havn't tried) lol.

I was determined to make it since my friends invited me and I didn't want to let them down. So I waited till about 10 am when it was approaching 32 or so, and getting warm enough for things to melt hopefully and up I went.

My car was frozen over. Not snowed on, literally ice was surrounding my car. Once I got inside it, luckily it actually started (must be anti-freeze in my radiator, I wasn't sure). I rolled down a window....but wait, there was still a window behind. There was frozen ice windows on each of my doors. I eventually realized I needed to just lower the window a bit then knock out the ice, so it didn't collapse inside when it broke.

It would have taken forever to clear the front and back windows with just the heater running in the car, but luckily I had a magnifying glass. No, I did not use the sun with that to melt the ice, I used it to scrape away the ice on the windows lol. Took about 20 minutes but I cleared both windows and got them warm enough to see through.

Meanwhile the entire road up at the top of the hill, out here on steamboat island, was solid ice. Nobody had tried to drive on it. Heck, nobody had tried to walk on it (or slide I guess). I took pictures so people could see how stupid I was when they found my dead body, and then proceeded to somehow turn my car around (Was facing the wrong way) on solid ice, and slowly drive to where the main road was.

There does not see to be any snowplows on this island, as even the main road just had tracks where other cars had driven, and you could not see the actual road. I drove slowly though (about 20-30 minutes for what usually takes about 10) and got to the freeway.

I then proceeded to drive for about 2 hours north along I5 to get to my friends house, there were multiple places with ice, tons of places with water, both of which made you lose traction. All along the way were cars that broke down, got in accidents etc, there were trucks that were sideways, crashed and one on it's side.

I just focused on driving and made it all the way up. I was already off the highway when I get a frantic call from my friends telling me not to come. They had attempted to go out to get perscriptions for one of them, and the hill in front of their house was solid ice, so their car slid into the curb on the side and they were all stuck.

I was close so I said I would come help and we could use my car to at least get the perscriptions. I parked at the top of the hill, and started walking down on the grass since it was all very slick ice. That worked great, till I got to a driveway, stepped down and went flying.

Mind you I can literally run across an ice skating rink and never fall, even if I did fall I took judo for years and can fall and not hurt myself.

So I fell and luckily used slapping the ground etc to not hurt myself much, maybe a bit bruised but mostly angry at actually falling, which I never do. I try to get up, but am not near the curb anymore after falling and slightly dizzy.

This time I fall, and I fall hard, no slapping, no control of the fall etc, and I slam the back of my head into the ground in the process. I have a hard head, but I still felt that. I pulled myself over to the curb and just lay in the water on my side for a few minutes dealing with the dizzyness etc.

My friends had all seen both falls and thought I was dead lol. One started coming up the hill and I saw him and told him to stay there it was too slippery, and I got up and walked the rest of the way down. Had a decent bump on the back ofmy head and was dizzy/sick to my stomach for a few hours. No headache though at least.

About 15 minutes later, I was starting to feel a bit more normal (other than being soaking wet), and they had tried using chains, pushing the car etc, to no avail, so we decided to try and walk back one of my friends who is elderly and has to have hip replacement surgery soon etc. I got one side and my friend another and we walked her back over the grass/bushes etc to avoid her walking on the ice. There were still a few icy places by we generally had one person on each side of her which she crossed it so she was stable. That was the scariest part.

We all got inside and you think the worst would be over. We didn't end up going to levenworth (And sadly it looks like they will still be charged for the AB&B), but there was no way for me to get back up to my car. I had parked it on the side of the road, and one ofmy friends said it was ok there as they saw other people parking up there sometime.

Next day comes and it warms up and we are able to drive up, I get out and run over to my car to drive it down to their house. It's on the side of the road (Fast road) with traffic going by, and it's already dark (gets dark super early here). I finally have a few moments without a car so run over, quickly open the door and get inside.

When I jump in, I go flying back because the drivers seat is all the way back, horizontal. Slam my back of my head into the head rest in the process (not super hard but it was still a bit sore).

There is a homeless dude with his dog named pepper in the back seat. He says he thought the car was abandoned and that is was freezing and he was just trying to get out of the cold. I feel sorry for him and offer to drive him somewhere but he doesn't give any specific places he wants to go (I don't know the area at all) and my car windows are all super fogged over etc).

I told him sorry I can't just drive around like this, gave him some hefty bags I had in the car to use to keep the rain off, and off he went. I was freaked out but believed him as it was freezing etc, and he had a dog, what kinda bad person would have a little dog with them?

Anyway I drive it down to their house, park it, lock it, and head inside, letting everyone know what just happened. We proceed to have dinner and watch Home Alone and the older version of a Christmas Carole, then all get ready and go to bed.

While trying to go to sleep (possibly due to just watching home alone), I realize I didn't check my car to make everything was still inside it. I had a bunch of mail on my passenger seat since I got it on the way out, and papers/insurance info and my registration in the glove box.

I toss on my shoes and grab my phone for light, and head out, and sure enough, everything is gone. So is my phone charger, CDs and I'm not sure what else I had in the car.

I ended up filing a police report online as they were closed for Xmas. I still need to look up how to replace my registration. Felt so bad after that I wasn't able to sleep all night either. I was seriously worried they would use the info on my mail etc to go to my house since they knew I wasn't there and steal everything. Ended up leaving by around 11 am after saying goodbye to everyone, and luckily when I got home nobody had broken in.

My friend thinks maybe they stole all the papers (including the owners manual) to burn for warmth. I hope that is it. Anyway that was my Xmas this year.

Yeah that happened to me, too.

As far as WA state goes, you can go to an auto licensing office and as long as you have your ID and explain what happened, theyll have you pay a fee and submit an affidavit form.

Id bring a copy of the police report as well.

Thanks Shanan, yeah I called this morning and they basically said it was $15 to get a replacement, they even said I didn't need to bother and could just explain it to a police officer if I got pulled over lol.

I also have my previous years registration papers and my title. Put all of them in my coat for when I drive next.

Not sure if I will bother going or not, I generally only drive into town to shop and only every 2 weeks or so, and the car reg gets renewed in april. That is 4 months away and I believe you can renew it 2 months early, so literally will probably only drive it 4-6 times by then.

Still probably worth the trip to the DMV and $15 just for peace of mind.

Wow digital versions of registration are now allowed in WA as well, so I can take a picture of my old ones and hopefully that will work in case of a problem as well. I can't find any info on the penalty of not having proof of registration on you, only if you have not registered your car at all (which is like $500).

Since I barely ever drive and need to renew soon, I may just take a picture and roll with that till I get a new one in Febuary.

Thats fair. Cant say I blame you. I gotta go up to Blaine and get paperwork saying my car has officially reentered the US (moved back six months ago and didnt need it then???) and Ive been putting that off cuz of the weather. Ill probably go on Friday when we get paid so we can make a trip of it.