It was only last week when the highs were in the 80s and the skies where blue as a bell in the high desert. But then came the snow! SNOW!! And then I was stuck.

With this week's turn of adventures with wacky un-California weather, our state was blanketed with white powder down into the 1500-foot elevations. As amazing this might sound to most of the residents that live in sunny SoCal, this proved to be a headache to those that commute the many road ways that where closed down because of it.  As amazing as this might sound to most of the residents of sunny SoCal, it proved a headache to those who commute the many roadways that were closed down because of it.

Case in point: Me
I live off of highway 15 in the city of Victorville. It's about 98 miles from the office. Some think it's a crazy drive, but I love living in the desert. We haven't had snow in over five years, and the last time it only stayed for the day. This year set new records for our area.

Just like any other day, I woke up to a sunny and cold morning. I packed my nephew up in my Mini Cooper and we headed to work. As we got closer to the Cajon Pass, the rain started to fall. Then it turned to snow. We made it down the pass just in time to hear the reports on the radio telling us the pass was closed in both directions. I made it into the office with no further problems and listened all day to the snow reports. There's no way I can drive my Mini in the snow. I was grateful to snag the keys to our long-term Mazda CX-9 as I waited next to the radio hoping for the chances of the pass to reopen. Unfortunately, 8 p.m. rolled around and I was stuck in a hotel in Los Angeles for the night.

Morning came early and the news reports mentioned that the highway patrol was going to start to run escorts up the pass. This was my chance to see if I could get home. I had my nephew all bundled up in the back seat and brought a video for him to watch just in case we got caught on the way back up. As soon as we hit the 15 from the 210, we knew it would be a long wait. The vehicles were not moving and the 15 north was still shut down. I had to jump on the south 15 and take the first exit I came to. I pulled into the gas station to fill up and reprogrammed the Mazda's navi to get me around the mess on the highway. I ended up getting around the freeway closers by following some secret roads that traveled the highway all the way into the Devore area where the 15 and the 215 meet. The freeway entrances were open and I got on the highway heading north. The roads were icy and there were only a few other vehicles on the road with me. I took my time going only about 50 mph as my nephew watched his movie in the back seat. The snow was amazing. The brown hillsides that I've learned to love were black and white, and it didn't look like the same place I travel on daily.

Once we reached the top of the Cajon Summit, we found ourselves stuck with a freeway full of trucks slowly creeping over the ice and slush. It took us another hour or so to go only 14 miles until we hit our exit, and that turned into another adventure for us.

Even though the main roads were plowed, they remained icy and full of snow. It was amazing to see my small, old-fashioned town in this state. Once again, the CX-9 cut around the slush without losing any footing. Then we came to our street and the snowplows had never touched it. All you could see are two thin cuts made from other vehicles that braved the drive in it. We followed those tracks with ease and pulled into our driveway. Next on the list…I get to shovel out the driveway. I'm glad this happens only once every few years. LOL

The CX-9 was a blessing to have in the snow.