11/15/2024
This long post is meant to be informative to those of you who are coming to stay with us through the winter weeks and have rented a cabin. I make a similar post once a year.
First, here is a story about our weather. Last January I decided to drive my wife to work in Maryville. She works night shift in the ER at our local hospital and the forecast was for snow that night. It was raining as we left Rudd Hollow and drove through town, but as we headed towards Maryville on 321 the rain started changing to snow in the Walland area. By the time we got to Maryville, the streets had several inches of accumulation and cars were barely moving. I dropped her and returned home to find that the snow changed back to rain in just about the same area of Walland. When I got home, I decided to do some thing at 25-year-old man would do but a 70-year-old should not. To keep the story short I ended up having to drive myself back to the ER. Even though I had broken bones and blood running down the side of my face, I noticed that the rain changed back to snow in just about the same area of Walland. After getting x-rays and a CT scan and listening to my wife and her coworkers scold me for doing things I shouldn’t be doing, I was released to drive myself back home. Again, snow was all over the roads in Maryville getting deeper every time I made the trip and it changed back to rain in the same area of Walland.
Now, how this story might relate to you. So you rented a cabin back in the summer and you wanted to assure that you got a cabin with a view. It is likely going to be at a higher elevation. Higher than the City Of Townsend anyway. What that translates to weatherwise is a good possibility that a forecast of rain for the City Of Townsend might be snow where your cabin is located. If your cabin is located on a steep road or has a
driveway that goes straight up a hillside, it is possible that you might get stranded in your cabin. A lot of our roads are not maintained, especially in gated communities. The state does a pretty good job with Highway 321 but the county is usually a little slower and may not even maintain the road where your cabin is located. Be prepared for this situation.
If the weather is sketchy when you get to town, assure you have everything you need when you get to your cabin. Go by the grocery store and stock up on what you might need and consider that your cabin may not have power at some point during your stay. Make sure you have all of your medication‘s and supplies such as baby diapers, etc.
Here is a point that will be frustrating to you. If the roads are so bad that you can’t drive off of your mountain, then it is likely no one can get up to you to help. The rental agency has no power over the weather and no control over getting the roads cleared, so they can’t help you either. I suggest that your rental agreement may even contain language that points that out.
If you have extra room in your vehicle, throw in a couple of extra sleeping bags for warmth and maybe pack extra clothing suitable for cold weather. It’s better to have it and not need it than to to need it and not have it.
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