The Lee Family Christmas

After three days and two long very cold nights of getting their Subaru high-centered in the snow, Keith and Jennifer Lee are safely home.

On Tuesday December 1st the Medford, OR. couple set out for the high country in hopes to find the perfect Christmas Tree (a Silver-Tip Fir that only grows at high elevations). After successfully finding their tree the couple loaded it on the roof and set for home. As they were driving the road conditions were fine until they went around a bend in the road. They slammed into two feet of snow trapping their car. It wasn’t until the third day of their life threatening ordeal that Keith used rocks and wood in front and behind the vehicles tires getting it to grip. His efforts were successful and the couple was able to drive themselves out. During their drive they heard on the radio that a search was in place for them. They called 911 and reported their status.

The couple also got lost last year in the Siskiyou Mountains near the California border, also looking for the perfect Christmas Tree (I think it’s time to buy Poinsettia). They however did learn a little from the previous years misfortune. The couple was armed with a case of water, three blankets, a cell phone with GPS, and two maps of the area, but NO FOOD! Note: PLEASE SEE PREVIOUS POST about the 10 Essentials. They did tell a friend they were heading out, but no one really knew where they had went to. Leaving a contingency plan with not one, but two RELIABLE people is a good method to practice.  Let’s face it things can and will go wrong. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go out in search of your perfect Christmas Tree, but be prepared.

Living in Colorado where our weather does what it wants, when it wants, I keep an emergency/survival kit under the backseat of my truck, just in case. It’s never been used and I hope it never has to be, but it gives me assurance that’s it’s there. More importantly if something does go wrong it buys me more time. There are many places online you that show you how to make your own survival kit. There are also a wide variety of these carried at your local gear stores, ready for sale. Buy one or make one, it could save you and your families lives. Their news interview ended with Jennifer saying ”What were we thinking? Thirty dollars for a Christmas tree. Just pay the $30 and be done with it. Thirty dollars wasn’t worth our life.” In case you are wondering, the tree did make it back with them.