Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Tough Tuesday

Some days my employer doesn't pay enough for the conditions we must drive in. Here WSF whines about his Election Day adventure.

A storm with freezing rain followed by snow blew through.  Took nearly 90 minutes to travel the 46 miles from our base in Loveland, CO to Cheyenne, WY. A large part of the travel was spent at 30 mph behind two CDOT snowplows. They operate in tandem, one in the left lane and one in the right on the Interstate. Traffic backs up for miles. Finally got around them and was rewarded with open road, as in the only vehicle on the road. Was able to maintain 45-50 mph to Cheyenne.

If there was any advantage in my predicament, it was now daylight and I could see the roads I usually drive on in the dark. Fine, until you hit fog.
North of Wheatland things improved.
Still to come, US 26.
Not far from this spot my route co-driver hit a herd of deer in dense fog and wiped out our car last Saturday. He wasn't hurt but the car was totaled. This was the car severe wind had customized.



South of Scottsbluff conditions improved.
DIA was still being impacted when I arrived.
Today the roads were clear and dry. This storm was typical. Short, severe, and moving East. Just hoping we don't get any five day blizzards this winter.


10 comments:

Old NFO said...

Glad you made it okay! And it's getting nasty everywhere!

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Four days off coming up, and four days of little jobs to accomplish.

LL said...

Tough work.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

At least nobody is shooting at me.

drjim said...

The wife was amazed at how the 3" of snow was gone from the sidewalks and roads later in the day.

I told her it didn't always happen like that.....

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Not a big deal if you are prepared. How do you plan to clear your walks and driveway?

Enjoying the grandchild?

drjim said...

Yeah, having a ball with the little guy. Wife has plans for one of the bedrooms to be his room for when he's older and comes to stay with us.

I really can't shovel much snow, especially the wet stuff that weighs a ton per scoop, due to medical issues, so I've been looking at snow blowers. Rev Paul in Alaska has some use-based recommendations, but I'm not sure we need an "Alaskan Sized" snow blower!

Well Seasoned Fool said...

My advice? Go big!
http://blogs.denverpost.com/library/2012/02/02/a-list-of-colorados-historic-blizzards-and-snowstorms/367/

drjim said...

HAH! I'll look in the "$1500 price class". From the minor research I did before it seems to be a sweet spot for residential areas.

I'd buy the big Honda with the tracks on it, but the wife would freak out at a $3200 snow blower!

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Anyone is better than none. Several on Craigslist.