It’s a powder day! It didn’t start well though as we were stuck in the snow and late for school… Eek!
It’s always so exciting waking up and seeing that it has puked down overnight. The forecast told us it was coming and Nina and I were kitted up and ready to go for a board after we’d done the school drop off. Man! School run in boarding gear and setting off straight from the car park. Living the dream baby!
We got the kids togged up and shoed them out to the car park of our latest dwelling. It’s getting confusing now. I’m waking in the night wondering where the hell we are!
When we reached the car park it was a bit deeper than we’d expected. With everyone safely bundled into the van, we set off for school. We came prepared with winter tyres already fitted before we left the UK and the van had done a great job so far up and down mountain roads in all sorts of conditions. This morning though, felt a little more jittery. We got into town and there was noticeably more traffic travelling slower than normal and obviously struggling.
We lost all momentum as we turned right into the first steepish climb towards school and 50m later we weren’t going any further. We joined a couple of other vehicles in the ‘reverse of shame’ as a handful of 4wds and snow chained vehicles whizzed past, no doubt having a laugh or tutting at the Brit plates.
“This is not acceptable. Next time C’est termine!”
Luckily we had chains, brand new and unopened. I ordered them with the tyres which I always order from the excellent Pneus Online. They come from the Netherlands I think and provide a great service with unbeatable prices. They turn up a couple of days after ordering and I just take them down to the local tyre place to fit. It’s saved me loads. Anyway, the chains were another story…
Nina and I broke them out of the box and got to work on a wheel each. 10 minutes later and with fingers beginning to struggle on the cold metal it became obvious that they didn’t fit, they were just not quite long enough and no amount of jiggling and repositioning would get them to fit better. We finally managed to get one of them somewhere near functional and after a quick hand rub moved on to the other one. Now, you may be thinking “I bet you hadn’t fitted them right” and I was even doubting myself but what happened next convinced me that these were a substandard product. I pulled (not hard) on the tensioner and it just came apart – the hook just pulled out of the rubber. Nina had a look to make sure I wasn’t being a numpty and concluded I wasn’t.
We still weren’t on the move and we were now late for school! Eek! It’s only day 4!
I bodged the broken chain together with a cable tie and we made progress. I pulled up at the gate and Nina hurried the kids out of the back and towards the school.
When she returned. She looked a little shell shocked. The door was locked and she’d had to ring a door bell and was then met by a stern teacher, hands on hips and tapping her watch saying “This is not acceptable. Next time C’est termine!” Nina was left to suffer and stutter for a few seconds before being slapped on the arm and ushered in with a smile. Phew!
We’ll be giving ourselves plenty of time in future, powder day or not!
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