I grew up in Iowa and now live in Minnesota. When my dad died in 1982 we tried to drive to Cedar Rapids for the funeral and got stranded in La Porte City (on highway 218?) and had to spend 4 days and nights there before we could get out of town. The temperature was about 30 below with winds of about 30 mph, resulting in a wind chill of about 90 below. The strip motel we stayed in (me, wife, 3 kids, and a dog) did not have enough heating capability to heat our end unit above the lower 60's. There is not a whole lot to do in Laporte City for 4 days and evenings. We did have some good meals and service at Dave's Chicken Shop (I think that was the name.) We were able to leave and get to CR just in time for the funeral. But they were not able to get out to the country cemetery to bury my dad so he had to wait until later in the year to get buried. He didn't even get to ride in a nice Cadilac for his final trip to the cemetery, he was hauled in a back of a truck that could make it out to the gravesite. Do any of you remember that awful storm that started the day my dad died on January 9, 1982? Don Elias On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:29:21 EST ROSKAYBEB@aol.com writes: > I have a newpaper clipping dated April 6, 1938, that my folks saved. > It's > about highway 63 four miles north of Waterloo being closed for 14 > hours by a > four-foot snowdrift that was 600 feet long. My mom & dad, aunt, & > 2-year-old > cousin were in one of the 35 cars that were unable to get through. > They > spent the night at a farm house along with a group of other people. > Mother said > they gathered around a pot belly stove all night, & in the morning > the lady > of the house fixed pancakes for everybody. > I was born the following October, so that was the first of many Iowa > > blizzards that I was present for. I lived in Waterloo, Iowa, till I > was 20, then > moved to Nebraska (same weather there.) > My favorite winter memories are ice-skating all winter at various > outdoor > rinks around Waterloo. > Kay B. ____________________________________________________________ Click here to find the perfect picture with our powerful photo search features. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTEuJCCk0avtZngdfCjeQKCfLPqslSvMniiMmVU9FxtKdLnnJLJDWY/