The next leg of our SnowRat journey takes us to Chicago, the center of the BrewRat Universe. Skot and Dorothy graciously offered to host us for a Sat. afternoon arrival and overnight stay with a departure on Sun. It also looked very promising that we would get to meet nearly all the ChiTown Rats. As you may have surmised, things didn't work out as planned. Earlier in the week we heard weather rumblings about a major storm headed east at the end of the week. However, a precise track was anything but certain. On Thur. we evaluated the information available and made some consultations resulting in a decision to leave on Fri. A quick call to Dorothy confirmed that it would be just fine if we arrived a day early and spent an extra night. She somewhat seriously quipped, "Wouldn't it be great if you got snowed in and couldn't leave until Mon.". To which I replied "Sorry, but it looks like the storm will have passed by then and we need to leave on Sun." We left Waterloo with sunny but cold weather. At the last minute we decided to take the northern US20 route rather than I80, lest the storm sneak in early from the south. It was a gorgeous New Year's Day drive on a route that I hadn't been on for 30 years. Much to the pleasure of KJ, I didn't even tune in a Bowl game on the radio. We arrived in Chicago to lake effect snow and messy driving but found Skot's with nary a wrong turn thanks to MapQuest (aint the Internet GREAT?!?!) After hugs, greetings, a nickel tour of their new digs, and some conversation; stuffs were unloaded and we settled in for the weekend....not yet realizing how settled we would really get. Skot and I migrated to the crackhaus...errr....basement for a beer. But first Skot had a bit of tweeking to do to his just assembled fully tap handled (including a shining nitro pour Guinness tap) kegerator. On tap for the weekend were a very tasty brown ale and a yummy lethal barley wine. It turns out that our premature arrival put at least a small crimp in the Abene style. They had planned on having all day Fri. and most of Sat. to sweep up the broken needles and used condoms and paint over the grafitti in the crackhaus before we arrived. Heh, heh, heh....seriously....we had a great afternoon and evening of conversation while they set up bookshelves, unpacked boxes, and generally put the basement in order so that KJ and I might be more comfortable staying down there. (Side note: You didn't HAVE to do that, you two!!) Somewhere in there we consumed a KILLER dinner featuring Cincinnati style chili. It was obviously tended with love all day!! MMMMMM....... The day ended with relaxing comraderie interspersed with some BRC. We went to bed relaxed and satisfied (get your mind out of the gutter again), yet uneasy about the 'morrow. A quick look out the window in the morning confirmed last night's trepidation....SNOW....a few inches...coming down HARD.....blowing HARD!!! The day's first smoke on the porch found the wind straight from the east....uh oh!! Lake effect would be in this storm's arsenal and compound whatever evil it had on its mind. There looked to be 4" already on the ground with some drifts a foot deep. A scan of the porch found a scrap 30" slat that I stuck in relatively quiet spot to act as a dip stick for the day. Oh yeah, almost forgot....it was FRICKING COLD!! Back inside for hot coffee and home made bread, a recurring treat throughout the weekend. It didn't take rocket science (just the Weather Channel and the Net) to figure out we might as well hunker down, relax, and let Nature run its course. Several things kept stir craziness to a minimum; the house was large for wandering....stuffs were spread around, the TV upstairs, Net computer downstairs, game computer upstairs, adults, kids and cats on the move, and a willing constant companion for smoke breaks.....my new found buddy, Zack! With it snowing at a couple of inches per hour according to my dip stick, I kept the porch and steps cleaned up during my fresh air breaks (heh!) but was reluctant to tackle the walks, fearing they would just drift over within an hour. Early in the afternoon however, Skot the dutiful new land baron, found the shovel, sucked it up, and created the intial path on the walks. Our combined effort thereafter, made maintainance easier. Another aside here.....in my forays onto Skot's front porch and walks I saw many of his neighbors. Each one of them said at least hello to me, the stranger, and usually we had a short conversation. Cool neighbors there, Skot!! Welp, when mamas says "We need orange juice and coffee.", blizzard or not, the hunter-gathers had best find OJ and java!! OK...maybe they knew we'd enjoy a walk ;-) (we sure weren't going to drive). So Skot and I bundled up, grabbed the list, and headed for uptown Oak Park. By now the snow was well over a foot deep with drifts 2' to 3'. Upon reaching the main drag it was obvious that Chicago was grinding to a halt. Pedestrians using the street substantially out numbered cars. When we hit the freeway overpass we found it nearly deserted, maybe 10 cars traveling and several more dead in the water. For the record, our heads were mostly down and turned away from the wind during the walk. Throughout the late morning and afternoon numerous phone calls were exchanged between ChiTown Rats. Lothar had a B-day party planned for his girlfriend where he intended to ask her to become his fiancée. This was also to be the big RatFestation for the weekend. However, our walk cemented the cancellation of the RatFest and the word was passed. One Rat refused to give up the ship, though.....k9. As late as 6:00 he was saying he intended on venturing out and up to Skot's. Pleading by both of us convinced him there would be another day. Skot later said, "I think the SOB would have walked." (for the record my dip stick says 20"+ and still snowing and blowing hard) Here's some picts from the day.... KJ and Zack Erin and Dorothy Skot the DJ (No he isn't that freaking Fat!!) TD Meeting new people was not totally off the agenda, Skot and Dorothy had a pizza (home made variety...mmmm) party for Rats planned that included Mr. & Mrs. Beer Thief, neighbors from down the street and maker of incredible mash paddles. We had a delightful time conversing while dining on pizza with artichokes and stuffs fit for a Queen. BTW....that dining table is Elizabethan....500-600 years old....WAY COOL!! Mr. & Mrs. Beer Thief bid their adieu rather early saying they had more snow to move, we would find out what they meant in the a.m. Eventually we migrated to the basement, closer to the beer...heh, heh, heh...to relax and BS. Skot updated the BRC and saw Indy (a brewing neighbor of mine) saying that Toledo was officially shut down due to ice and snow and that anyone non-emergency caught driving would be ticketed. I didn't like the sound of that for Sunday. So, from Indy, we got the real-time/on-the-spot information about home through the BRC. (thanks Skot!!) We conversed, Rat Chatted, and drank out the rest of the evening in contented harmony. Again, KJ and I went to bed with a slight edge about the next day. BTW....my 30" dip stick disappeared about 8:00 p.m., still snowing and blowing hard!! Sun. a.m. first smoke: Sunny day....sidewalks not bad....BRRRRR......wind shift....gotta start doing smoke breaks on the back porch. Weather reports said that the 22.5" snowfall at O'Hare was a 24 hr. record and the overall blizzard was the 2nd worst. After a few cups of eye-opening coffee, I looked out the back window to see Skot had already shoveled a path to the garage. I couldn't see our car behind the garage but knew that we weren't going to start it up and drive away, so I bundled up to join Skot moving snow. This is a view of our car and only a small part of the job that lay ahead. My first thought was that if we shoveled a runway of sorts, I could get up a head of steam and blaze a path the 4 or 5 houses to connect with the last part of the alley that was shoveled by Mr. & Mrs. Beer Thief. Two attempts at this strategy dismally failed and not knowing when crews would plow the alley, we resigned ourselves to connecting with the Beer Thief's work. Greatfully, one of Skot's neighbors joined us to lighten the load. It took us a couple of hours to accomplish the mission, but it seemed like half a day. With the car parked out front, it was time to decide on travel plans. It was 12:30 p.m., sunny, but very windy from the north. We were quite concerned about drifting on the Indiana and Ohio Turnpikes and the day's late hour, so we decided to grant Dorothy's once joking wish and thought it best to spend one more night. The word went out quickly to the Rats around town that we would be staying. It didn't take long to get commitments from Round Boy, Metal, and Lothar for afternoon visits. Well alright, at least we'd get to meet a few new Rats!! Round Boy was the first to show up and as a special treat he brought the last half keg of a 40 gal. batch of dry stout that he and Skot had brewed a few months earlier. The first order of business was to hook that puppy up the nitro tap. RB made it in time for a late afternoon lunch of awesome lasagne. Hmmm....single?....home cooking?....yeah, I can see why RB was the first on the scene... ;-). Lothar arrived next followed by Metal and Kegerator (Metal's brother). We just hung out and spent the afternoon drinking beer and shooting the shit. Several gut splitting smoke breaks were also mixed in (thanks Loth & RB!!). The growler of JG's heather ale made the rounds raising eyebrows at every stop. It was certainly a unique brew and we were all greatful to have a chance to try it....Thanks Gump!! Here's some picts from the afternoon, I feel lousy that I either missed getting a shot of Loth or that it was so poor that they didn't develop it. Hopefully Skot will have one to add later. Metal and Kegerator (on left) admiring Skot's false bottom. Kegerator and Metal Left to right: Kegerator, Metal. Skot, Round Boy, and Tall Dave (DAMN!!!....sorry again Loth!) After the excitement of the mini RatFest subsided we settled in for another quiet evening. We retired for the night with a warm satisfaction that a most interesting 10 days would be ending soon. Monday morning brought sunny skies, cold temps., and a north wind. We hit the road about 9:00 after some rueful goodbyes. The roads were quite messy, as expected, but traffic moved quite well and it appeared that Chicago was returning to normal. It was a smooth trip to Toledo except for a few slick spots in Indiana, as evidenced by several cars in the ditch. When we exited the Ohio Turnpike it was immediately apparent that it would take days more for Toledo to recover. ICE!!!...1" thick ice was everywhere!! Traffic moved at a crawl and a normally 15 min. drive to Waterville took 45 min. We were greeted at our door by 2 cats that had missed us greatly. It was time for a homebrew (thanks Indy!!) after unpacking and settling in. The cats certainly tried to make a point that they didn't think we should leave again anytime soon. It was really great meeting everybody, I wish it could have worked out so it would have been a few more. I've met 10 Rats on the road so far and each of them has been a delight to know. I'm convinced that it takes a special kind of person to stick around the BRC and become a Rat. I eagarly look forward to meeting many, many more in the years to come!! Long Live the BRC!!!