Okay, enough with the snow already!! It's April 12th and last night into this morning, we picked up another six to eight inches of snow. I thought this was supposed to be spring. You know spring RAIN showers bring May flowers? Well, except for the first couple days of this month, it hasn't been very spring-like at all. And I am getting pretty sick of it. I guess we really are paying for our late winter, which didn't begin until the middle of January. Even though it feels like the middle of winter, it's warm enough to produce heavy wet snow, which is exactly what fell during this latest storm. There's nothing worse to drive in than slush (except maybe for ice), and I know from experience after my adventure today.
I was driving along M-35, which had already been plowed and was just mainly wet. I had to make a decision, whether to continue on this road, or travel a county road that is paved but usually poorly plowed after a significant snowfall. Since there were two other cars ahead of me that continued on M-35, I decided to take my chances on the county road. As I started on the county road, I could tell it had not been taken care of at all. It was very slushy and shortly thereafter, I began losing control of the car. I was not traveling all that fast, roughly 35 MPH when the car began swerving. I tried maintaining control of the vehicle and attempted to drive into the swerves. That did not seem to help at all and at one point my car was sliding perpendicular to the surface of the road. A truck was traveling in the opposite lane and had slowed to a stop once he saw how much trouble I was experiencing. I managed to straighten the car out somewhat but I was in the other lane of traffic. I just couldn't get back into my lane as I was getting very close to the truck ahead. So I went and slammmed on my brakes. I stopped comfortably ahead of the truck but I was close to the snowbank of the road. I tried backing up, but my tires were just spinning. So I drove forward a bit but went too far and my front bumper ended up ontop of the snowbank. I truly was stuck now.
The driver of the truck ahead came out and gave me some assistance. He had a shovel in the back of his truck and started shoveling some of the snow from under the front bumper. Another vehicle that was coming from the opposite direction stopped just behind where my car was. A gentleman came out to help. I got a shovel out from the trunk of my car and did some shoveling around the front left tire. We had it pretty well shoveled out and decided to give it a try. The two guys were pushing on the front of the car as I backed out. After a strong push from the guys, I was out of the snowbank and back onto the road. Realizing that the county road was just too trecherous to make it the remainder of the way, I decided to turn around (in a well plowed driveway) and drive back onto the well-plowed state highway. The rest of the drive back home was much better and the roads treated properly. But, I couldn't help second guessing myself in how I handled getting stuck. I don't know if there was much I could've done differently. I wasn't really going that fast and I probably would've spun out regardless. One thing I am thankful for is that I regained enough control of the vehicle in that I didn't end up going in the ditch. And with a little shoveling and a push from some very helpful people, I was back on the road.
So you can understand why I am getting sick of winter. I am sick and tired of driving in sloppy conditions and on poorly treated roads, I am sick of brushing off my car, I am sick of bundling up for the cold, and I am sick of shoveling. Please mother nature, once and for all, bring us spring back!!
Showing posts with label no spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no spring. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
It's Supposed to be April!
Today is April 5th and outside, it looks like the middle of winter. In fact, it's rather difficult to look outside my window because of the huge snow drift that covers the lower half. Our major blizzard started Tuesday night and hasn't let up since. It's starting to calm down now, but the winds are still quite brisk and the snow is still falling. We've picked up anywhere from 8 to 20 inches around the area - and it's so hard to measure because its been so windy. Remember that blog entry I wrote a month ago saying that we don't get the winter storms like we used to? Well, I'm biting my tongue today.
Yesterday was a nightmare driving to and from work. On the way in, U.S. 41; the major highway in our area, was not plowed all that well. It's normally a five-laned highway but was reduced to just two lanes in each direction. I was in with ten other cars heading west going 35 miles an hour. At least it was daylight which made it half-way decent to see, but when the wind was gusting, you really had to watch where you were going. Seeing how 41 was and knowing that the county road commission usually focuses their resources on keeping the U.P.'s busiest highway open, I considered turning around and staying home. But how could I? I was afraid of getting stuck. So I moved along and eventually turned off on M-35, a state highway. It seemed to be plowed better but underneath the snow was a sheet of ice. I think the fastest I drove was 40 miles an hour and even that was pushing it. I was actually surprised at how well this road was plowed over 41. Usually it's the opposite.
I would say getting home from work was even worse. This time, M-35 was the route that was in very poor shape. In fact, in a few spots, it was only open to one lane of traffic. I don't even think that road was plowed until before I made it into work! I was basically following the ruts from the previous vehicles that traversed the road. Again, I only went 35 to 40 MPH and since it was night time, the visibility was even worse. When the wind gusted, you REALLY couldn't see anything. But as soon as I made it onto 41, it was plowed better and I felt more comfortable. One of the biggest fears I have is sliding off the road and being stranded out in the middle of no where. There are many spots on the route to work that are forestland. No houses or businesses for many miles. I guess it would kind of help to have a cell phone for that reason alone.
So the blizzard of 2007 lives on to this day, with no apparent end in sight. It will remain cold (temperatures only in the 20's) until at least Sunday with snow showers predicted until then. Whatever happened to spring? The month of March was relatively beautiful (yes, we did have our fair share of cold days, but no snow - certainly nothing like the past few days). Up until this storm, we had no snow on the ground! Spring was in full mode, with birds singing and flowers starting to come up from the ground. Oh how quickly things change. Then again, this is the Upper Peninsula. The weather is always unpredictable.
Yesterday was a nightmare driving to and from work. On the way in, U.S. 41; the major highway in our area, was not plowed all that well. It's normally a five-laned highway but was reduced to just two lanes in each direction. I was in with ten other cars heading west going 35 miles an hour. At least it was daylight which made it half-way decent to see, but when the wind was gusting, you really had to watch where you were going. Seeing how 41 was and knowing that the county road commission usually focuses their resources on keeping the U.P.'s busiest highway open, I considered turning around and staying home. But how could I? I was afraid of getting stuck. So I moved along and eventually turned off on M-35, a state highway. It seemed to be plowed better but underneath the snow was a sheet of ice. I think the fastest I drove was 40 miles an hour and even that was pushing it. I was actually surprised at how well this road was plowed over 41. Usually it's the opposite.
I would say getting home from work was even worse. This time, M-35 was the route that was in very poor shape. In fact, in a few spots, it was only open to one lane of traffic. I don't even think that road was plowed until before I made it into work! I was basically following the ruts from the previous vehicles that traversed the road. Again, I only went 35 to 40 MPH and since it was night time, the visibility was even worse. When the wind gusted, you REALLY couldn't see anything. But as soon as I made it onto 41, it was plowed better and I felt more comfortable. One of the biggest fears I have is sliding off the road and being stranded out in the middle of no where. There are many spots on the route to work that are forestland. No houses or businesses for many miles. I guess it would kind of help to have a cell phone for that reason alone.
So the blizzard of 2007 lives on to this day, with no apparent end in sight. It will remain cold (temperatures only in the 20's) until at least Sunday with snow showers predicted until then. Whatever happened to spring? The month of March was relatively beautiful (yes, we did have our fair share of cold days, but no snow - certainly nothing like the past few days). Up until this storm, we had no snow on the ground! Spring was in full mode, with birds singing and flowers starting to come up from the ground. Oh how quickly things change. Then again, this is the Upper Peninsula. The weather is always unpredictable.
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