Echo what Cat said. If you're in this part of the country, stay off the roads today, and I speak from experience.
I had a two-day assignment in Wyoming. I'd meant to take a change of clothes, just in case, but I'm old and forgetful. So at the end of Day One yesterday (last one was a no-show)(wait! it gets better!), they were talking about having a shortened next day due to the weather coming in. The highway would be closed.
Well, if the highway's going to be closed, that means I wouldn't be able to make it the next day. So I drive back home, the weather is beautiful, pack a couple days' worth, eat an early dinner, kiss Grandma so long,, and back up to Wyoming I go for the night on my own dime. Just to be sure I can make it to the job the next day.
Morning comes. I look out the window, and seriously? No snow. Plenty of wet, but no snow. I'm getting ready and I get a call from one of the clients. Sorry, the whole day is canceled. Ah, well. (Told you it would get better!)
Since I now am rudderless for the day and there's still no snow, I figure I have time to kill. I head downstairs for breakfast, and now there is snow outside, and not just drifting flakes but angry streaks that are coming in sideways. I eat, go to the desk, ask about highway conditions, and they say that the highway's still open. Can I stay an extra night if I need to? Right now, yes, but the rooms are filling up. Oh, good.
Back up to the room, pack, leave a tip, head downstairs, toss them my room key, and they say, "You're going out? Brave man!" Nah, I've driven in snow.
The car is encased in ice. It's hard to get doors and trunk open. I toss my stuff in, start it up with all defrosters on, grab hat, gloves, and scraper, and get to work. The wind is a howling monster in my face.
Hit the road, and the road is nasty. Get to the highway entrance - still open! Yay! Driving down the highway, the wind is trying to push around my little car but it's doing fine, and passing traffic that's going way too slow and getting passed by traffic that's going way too fast. None of that is pleasant.
And then whiteout. Pretty much. The kind where you're gripping the wheel, watching what you can see of the fog line of the road, waiting to see if something appears suddenly in your windshield or your rearview mirror. Headlights on, hazards on. You can't stop. That would be a sure way to get pancaked. That goes on for a few miles of nervewracking driving.
And then I'm out, and while I can see snow blowing, none of it is sticking to the car. I know the wind is furious, but it must be howling in the direction I'm going, because while the bushes and trees are swaying, the air seems still around me. I turn off the heater fan, the radio, and it's silent except for the whine of tires on the road. No one's out with me, just Nature with her ugly face today, but it's calm where I am. It felt surreal, alien-like.
Well, the weather started up again, of course, and I took the first exit I could into town, preferring the slower, denser city roads to the ribbon of snow and ice that I'm leaving. I get home, and Grandma and Daughter are both happy I made it and horrified that I elected to drive.
Now the wind is howling outside, and the snow is accumulating. But I'm happily ensconced at home where it's warm, sipping hot coffee, and clattering at the keyboard. That makes it a good day.
I repeat: Stay off the roads today, regional peeps. Trust me on this one.
I had a two-day assignment in Wyoming. I'd meant to take a change of clothes, just in case, but I'm old and forgetful. So at the end of Day One yesterday (last one was a no-show)(wait! it gets better!), they were talking about having a shortened next day due to the weather coming in. The highway would be closed.
Well, if the highway's going to be closed, that means I wouldn't be able to make it the next day. So I drive back home, the weather is beautiful, pack a couple days' worth, eat an early dinner, kiss Grandma so long,, and back up to Wyoming I go for the night on my own dime. Just to be sure I can make it to the job the next day.
Morning comes. I look out the window, and seriously? No snow. Plenty of wet, but no snow. I'm getting ready and I get a call from one of the clients. Sorry, the whole day is canceled. Ah, well. (Told you it would get better!)
Since I now am rudderless for the day and there's still no snow, I figure I have time to kill. I head downstairs for breakfast, and now there is snow outside, and not just drifting flakes but angry streaks that are coming in sideways. I eat, go to the desk, ask about highway conditions, and they say that the highway's still open. Can I stay an extra night if I need to? Right now, yes, but the rooms are filling up. Oh, good.
Back up to the room, pack, leave a tip, head downstairs, toss them my room key, and they say, "You're going out? Brave man!" Nah, I've driven in snow.
The car is encased in ice. It's hard to get doors and trunk open. I toss my stuff in, start it up with all defrosters on, grab hat, gloves, and scraper, and get to work. The wind is a howling monster in my face.
Hit the road, and the road is nasty. Get to the highway entrance - still open! Yay! Driving down the highway, the wind is trying to push around my little car but it's doing fine, and passing traffic that's going way too slow and getting passed by traffic that's going way too fast. None of that is pleasant.
And then whiteout. Pretty much. The kind where you're gripping the wheel, watching what you can see of the fog line of the road, waiting to see if something appears suddenly in your windshield or your rearview mirror. Headlights on, hazards on. You can't stop. That would be a sure way to get pancaked. That goes on for a few miles of nervewracking driving.
And then I'm out, and while I can see snow blowing, none of it is sticking to the car. I know the wind is furious, but it must be howling in the direction I'm going, because while the bushes and trees are swaying, the air seems still around me. I turn off the heater fan, the radio, and it's silent except for the whine of tires on the road. No one's out with me, just Nature with her ugly face today, but it's calm where I am. It felt surreal, alien-like.
Well, the weather started up again, of course, and I took the first exit I could into town, preferring the slower, denser city roads to the ribbon of snow and ice that I'm leaving. I get home, and Grandma and Daughter are both happy I made it and horrified that I elected to drive.
Now the wind is howling outside, and the snow is accumulating. But I'm happily ensconced at home where it's warm, sipping hot coffee, and clattering at the keyboard. That makes it a good day.
I repeat: Stay off the roads today, regional peeps. Trust me on this one.
