Hey Nancy!

 NB> Maybe they got some extra time to enjoy the area before trekking
 NB> home...

Maybe.  I heard that there were hotels, bed and breakfast, etc. giving them
free beds/food/etc on the downtime they got so it wouldn't surprise me if there
 were a few extra perks like that once the power was restored.  Also I noticed
quite a few of the local farms were having outdoor feasts for quite large
amounts of guests.  I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say many of those
guests were power restoration crews.

 NB> Are people investing in generators after this storm....?

If you could find one then yes.  I looked and everywhere I went had no stock.

 NB> we ate out (there were a few restaurants that either had power
 NB> or had generators)

Not an option here.  I think I'll save up my pennies and invest in a generator
this summer for next winter.  I've seen a few advertised the will do both gas
and propane, and although there is a power drop running on propane (around 300
watts) I think the running time will be longer on a decent sized propane tank
which makes it more tempting than the short uptime running on gas.  We'll see. 
 Hopefully there won't be a major outage before spring.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Cybertoasts of note:
    2020-01-01 is  348 days from now and falls on a Wednesday.
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--- GNU bash, version 5.0.0(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
 * Origin: Little Mikey's EuroPoint - Ladysmith BC, Canada (2:280/464.113)