We were trying to stay on the northern side of the storm and only have to deal with an inch or two. Or that was the plan! We made it to Witchita just fine, realizing that there are a lot of cows in the West. In fact, it is so vast, I still do not understand why we could not have settled with the Native Americans and let them have at least half peaceably. It is a huge country. It was clear and the sunset was beautiful. Witchita is a big aviation hub, probably because the sky is vast as well! We were tired and I wanted a steak dinner and a drink. We found a hotel on the west side again, by the airport and a Texas Roadhouse. I know they have good steaks so we got into the hotel and ran across the parking lot to dinner and a margarita! It was freezing, the temperature steadily dropping into the single digits. Snow was definitely coming. The weather forecast was dubious but some truckers said Route 54 to the west was not too bad and we could see that many truckers had the same thought as us, to try to skirt the storm. After a quick breakfast Friday morning we headed west past the airport on Rt. 54/400 towards Liberal on the Kansas/Oklahoma border. It was getting worse and worse with blowing snow. The only good thing about the vast, flat prairie of the West is that the snow blows away. It was streaming across from south to north with about 1 mile visibility. We were following the truckers going west and hoping to stay on the edge of Storm Sparta. Sam had called us and was tracking our route as we wondered about going even farther north. But we decided to stay on 54 and wing it. I was doing most of the driving and as we left Oklahoma and went into the northwestern part of Texas it got worse! The roads had not been salted at all, just plowed and the surfaces were very tricky. Scraped icy snow that was slippery and rough, we were trying to stay with the truckers, more for moral support than anything. After Dalhart, TX, there was a stretch of road on the way to Tucumcari, New Mexico that was the worst bit of driving in snow that I have ever done. As northbound truckers flew past on the slippery road I had to hold the wheel and pray I did not hit an icy bit and slide to the left. And I did pray, it was really difficult and I did not want to worry Sarah but it was scary how icy it was. Her Prius did remarkably well, probably slid less than my Chevy truck with 4 wheel drive, would have in the same conditions. Her car was light enough to correct quickly when the slipstream pull from the truckers would make the car veer left. I was a wreck after 100 miles of this deserted stretch of unplowed road. Never again!About 4 pm we made it to New Mexico and miraculousy they had salted the same road and it was like night and day difference. We stopped at a diner on historic Route 66, had a grilled cheese sandwich and quickly left, heading west. Sarah took the wheel here, as we hoped it would be clearer on Interstate 40. It was beautiful in a wide open, empty kinda way. Just cows and more cows.
It was fine until about 20 miles outside Albuquerque. A snowstorm descended on us with a vengeance, as we descended into the canyons on Rte 40 as you approach Albuquerque. It was a nightmare and Sarah did great, even though I knew panic was nearby. She held her own as the driving lanes disappeared in the snowfall and inches quickly accumulated on the road. Cars were starting to slide and everyone was creeping along with their hazards on. As soon as I saw an exit and a nearby Super 8 motel, I said ,"Let's get off.". It was about 5 miles east of the city but it was terrible going. We made it to the cheap motel and just exhaled, thanking all the gods. There was a Olive Garden across the road and we went for another drink! Too much lasagna later we went to bed and I wondered how we were going to get out of Albuquerque in the morning.
I was supposed to fly from Phoenix on Saturday and Sarah was going to Tucson to see her aunt, before heading west to Los Angeles on her own for the last leg of the trip. It was not going to happen. At 5 in the morning there was 6 inches of snow on a closed Rt 40. Looking at the map, we recalculated and thank God for Southwest Air, I changed my flight to leave from Tucson to Baltimore and then we were going to go straight south to the Mexican border. I wanted to get out of the snow!. I saw a plow go by and said , "Let's get out of here". We followed that plow on Rt 25 south, doing about 30 miles an hour in 5 inches of snow. Her little Prius was being a champ, there were hardly any other cars on the road and in about 1 hr we were out of the snow. Thank you, Lord! There had been about 300 car accidents on Interstate 40 last night in Albuquerque, we had gotten off just in time.
Once we hit clear road I was driving about 90 miles an hour to try to make my flight in Tucson, before the next storm was coming to Maryland. I could just get through Denver, there was a window on the radar map and make it home before the ice hit the East. I drove like a maniac through New Mexico into Arizona and luckily it was clear road and no cops! There was wind as we went west across the bottom of Arizona on Rt 10 and blowing sagebrush threatened to hit the car. It exploded into twigs whenever it hit a car and the wind was strong, but anything was better than snow and ice. I made it to the airport in time for my flight. I was sad to leave Sarah, because she was going to be in LA for awhile and I would miss seeing her. She had a visit with her aunt Ann-Marie and she made it to LA the next day. What a trip, it had been fun, long, in places terrifying and still, a great time for Sarah and I. I would not have missed it for the world. Love you, daughter !
No comments:
Post a Comment