Have you ever wondered what it’s like to survive a blizzard for the record books?

Neither have I since I lived through the Chattanooga Blizzard of 1993 when I was in the 5th grade. Apparently, I’m lucky enough to survive two blizzards in one winter. The fact that I’m not traveling and stuck on I-81 makes this blizzard much more pleasant. By comparison, watching a blizzard from the inside of toasty apartment is not bad.

In my opinion, braving the stores on Thursday night was the opening skirmish in the Snowpocalypse II. It took me two hours to drive from my new job (yes, I got a new job!) in Herndon to Alexandria, where I live. I ended up at Wal-Mart since no one shops there in this area. Most people in this region are extremely anti-Walmart and would rather starve than buy from an evil corporate giant (although Whole Foods was started by a libertarian. Go figure.) I managed to get one of the last three gallons of skim milk in the store and was only in line for about 15 minutes. (Tennessee readers, Walmarts up here are the old types. Super stores aren’t allowed in the area, so they have small grocery sections.)

I also decided to snag a camping stove and propane. No one, I repeat, no one was buying those. With 20-30″ of snow, tree branches are going to fall on power lines, and electricity is going to go out. The camping section would have been wiped out in Tennessee. Sorry local readers, but metro dwellers are not very resourceful. I also loaded up on granola bars,* bottled water and batteries.

Yesterday, I worked from home, so I got to stay of the road. The snow started falling around 10 a.m., but didn’t start accumulating until the evening. By 7:45 p.m., several inches were on the ground, and I decided to start taking photos to document this experience. (Photos are below.)

This morning, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. The two main roads were plowed, but side streets are covered in at least 18″ of snow. There were a lot of people walking around and exploring the winter wonderland.

The local coffee shop, 7/11 and a Mexican restaurant were open. Surprisingly, there was a vendor at the Farmer’s Market. Target is closed, but the Farmer’s Market is open. That explains so much about Beltway life. I also discovered that the nearby Shopper’s and Shell station were open.

The snow is supposed to end some time tonight. The interesting question will be if the roads and Metro are working by Monday. Even if streets are plowed, the snow has to go somewhere. Cars parked on the street are blocked in by huge drifts. Northern Virginia is also completely cut off from the Metro because above-ground stations are closed. The real adventure starts Monday.

Update: At 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, the snow is up to 24″ or to my knees when I stand in it. Snow is also falling off the roof of my building and crashing in front of my living room window. It sounds incredibly scary when it happens. Snow has also covered up the vent to my window unit heater. Not sure if it’s safe to turn on the heat so I’m layering blankets over my snuggie.

*I grew up camping with my family. On one primitive camping trip to Cumberland Island, Georgia, raccoons got to our food supply with two days left on the trip. Since the island can only be accessed by a ferry, and there aren’t any stores, we survived on granola bars, gummy bears and marshmallows until it was time to leave. Most situations can be survived with the help of granola bars.