Irene and I hosted our 5th annual daffodil party Saturday, and while we had lots of beautiful daffodils, lots of fun people, and lots of good food, the weather didn’t cooperate, scaring some friends away. We reportedly had between 2.6 and 3.1 inches of rain that day, depending on whom you trust.

Those who’ve been to our house know we warn against using MapQuest directions or paying attention to a GPS, because those sources always advise using Tuscarora Pike to get to us, a road which can be scary even under the best of circumstances.

After breakfast Sunday morning (Irene whipped up biscuits from scratch!), our out-of-town friends asked to see exactly how bad Tuscarora Pike really is, so we hopped into our Jeep and bombed a mile north to get to Shanghai. Once we hung a right, we were confronted with the view you can see the first image below. Thanks to the rain, Tuscarora Pike was unreachable.

We studied the scene for awhile, then retraced our steps, went over the ridge via a different route, and came back down to look at the same flooding from the other side of the road. So each photo shows in the distance the spot from which the other photo was taken.

And if you’ve ever wanted to drive through standing water, here’s a reminder of why you shouldn’t—someone apparently attempted it, and ended up having to abandon their car in a flooded field.

Next year there’ll be better weather for our daffodil party. We promise!

How can we possibly make this promise? Because for it to be any worse, it would have to rain toads!