The night we got back from Denver was quite the experience.
After driving home from the airport in a blizzard, we picked Parker up from my Mom and Dad's and finally headed home. By the time we got there it was about 10pm. We unloaded the truck and put all the suitcases in our room. First thing I did was turn the heater on since it was a balmy 45 degrees in the house.
John was outside taking care of the dogs while Parker and I were changing into our PJ's. Parker was in his room and I was in mine. There I am, down to my skivies when all of the sudden....
PITCH BLACK. My first thought was, WTF? Then this blood curdling scream comes from Parker's room. So I go running to his room, wearing nothing but my undies. He's running down the hall, completely freaking out. As I scoop him up and try and calm him down John comes bursting through the door. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED??" he screams. He said while he was outside he heard a huge 'BOOM' and a big flash of light coming from just southeast of our house.
Having worked in dispatch when something similar happened, I immediately knew what was going on.
On the main road through our subdivision there is a fairly tight turn. On a nice day with normal driving conditions you have to take the turn at about 15-20 mph. Just on the outside of that turn are some utility boxes. These boxes supply power to other boxes in the neighborhood. That night was NOT normal driving conditions. It was a BLIZZARD! Apparently, some person (I have several other names but I'll stick with the nicest) driving a tow truck came around that turn like a bat out of hell and smashed into the power boxes knocking the power out through most of my half of the neighborhood.
Anyway, I hand Parker (who is still freaking out) over to John so I can get some clothes on. Being naked in a 45 degree house is not fun! I grab a flashlight and head to my room. We spent the next 15 minutes or so lighting candles and gathering flashlights. After we had the house pretty lit up we realized that with the power being off the furnace wouldnt kick on. So, we were heatless. Thank god for the gas fireplace! We ended up having a campout in the family room in front of the fireplace. We set up Parker's tent and sleeping bag and got him all settled. John and I (and Maisy) curled up in our sleeping bags and after quite some time we finally fell asleep. Around 5am we woke up to all the lights suddenly popping back on and the heater going nice and strong.
Although it was not an ideal way to spend our first night back from vacation, it ended up being a pretty good memory that we can look back on and laugh.
About a week later I was driving by and noticed some city workers installing two HUGE boulders in front of the utility boxes. Thanks to the city for realizing that was a crappy spot to put utility boxes and thanks for doing something to fix the problem. Parker really appreciates it :)
