Crap Roads = Night at the Office

 So you know how the weather people always ALWAYS panic with the first winter storm and over predict the snow and the ensuing chaos?

Well, this year they tried something new.  UNDER predicting.  We were TOLD (and I obsessively check weather and road type predictions) that the bad snow would start at my house at 1pm.  At Dr. Cowboy/BreadSourceTown at 5pm  FIVE pm.  I had an appointment (turns out my knee has arthritis and I need to do more squats...Dr. Cowboy ALWAYS tells you to do more exercise.  I was thinking less) at 1:30pm.  I was picking up bread for 3 people  It's always like those stupid story problems in jr high math class...how do you get 40$ of artisanal bread to 3 people around a webinar and a Dr. appt?

Well, do the webinar until 11am, time departure from the office, where you did the webinar, to leave 20 min before the Dr. appt which is time for a) a tourist to slow you down on the scenic windy road and b) pick up the bread and park at the office without turning off the car because the battery isn't charging right and it's not worth fixing wiring on a car that old.

So, I take off at 12:32pm.  ALL IS WELL>

I get to Dr.CowboyBreadTown about the time planned.   But it's snowing.  Just a little scenic pretty snow.  Seems fine.  Get bread, park at Dr. Cowboy and I'm 10min early because no tourist.  I wait in the car sorting through my "Master List" (more on that in a different blog).

I go in.  Have the appt.  Get told I'm old and that's just the deal and do more exercises.

30min or 40min and I'm on the road at 2:13.  Now it's like REALLY snowing.  It started 4 hours early.

BUT Sol the Subaru has that thermometer thingy in the dash and it says 34degs. So the road SHOULD BE FINE just like when I drove over.  I have the bread orders sorted for easy delivery.

I get 2 or 3 miles back out of town, it's 17 back to the office.  I have noticed that the road is F*$^ING SLIPPERY.  I have my winter tires on.  I tested the brakes when the rig in front of me fishtailed.  I HAVE brakes.  But they had very little effect on speed.  1 mile more and traffic is STOPPED. Flashers on.  I do get stopped (that's due to being headed slightly up hill and doing 10mph).  I text people waiting for bread that it's going to be more of a wait.  A cop tries to drive up and turns around. He eventually walks up.  Later we see him sliding, on foot, sideways toward the inside of a banked curve.  The curve where the cable-guy van had, before my eyes, slid sideways until it was completely in the ditch.  Bummer for him but at least we still had 1 lane open.

Eventually cars come from the otherway.  Until now I'd thought this was like just a vehicle blocking the lane. NOPE.  The entire road was glazed with ice and that was glazed with water and slush.  Everyone coming my way was doing 5mph or so and had BIG EYES.  Eventually enough cops got on scene to start trying to move traffic.  People who tried to turn around slid into the ditch nose first instead of sideways.  I figured I might as well keep pointing forward as I had more of a chance of continuing than if I tried to turn around on the banked/sloped road where I was stopped.  

We were stopped about a half hour.  I had plenty of gas but super needed to pee.  Oh well.  Work on the kegels and hope for the best.

When we did go, it was 5mph.  I drove in 1st or 2nd gear (thanks sport shift automatic!) because braking downhill was not going to be a thing.  It took 75 minutes of actual rolling time to do the 17 miles to my office.

I counted over 20 people in the ditch and watched many of them go into the ditch.  

I heard from folks on the highway headed to my house, that much the same situation was on the highway toward home.  I have a camping mattress and blanket at the office and had done laundry which was still in the car, along with snow shoes and water.  So I stayed at the office.  Just grabbed my gym bag so I could wear gym pants as jammie pants.  Settled in with some youtubes and my bread and the office pantry and called it a night.  Pulled chicken (from a chicken I butchered) with local hot peppers I'd put in the office freezer, and a fresh baguette.  It was a good supper.

Now I'm having my morning coffee, and waiting an hour for the sun to hit the road. There is a road camera a mile from my house that shows the pavement.  It used to have a thermometer reading too but that is conveniently broken.  Damn.  Oh well.  Last night I checked it and could see vehicles leaving wiggly tracks in slush and figured "no."  Today I see all pavement. I bet there is enough brine on that to dissolve my undercarriage before I hit the driveway.

As for the bread.  Both people had final trips to make and had also listened to and trusted the weather people...so they came by the office to pick it up and that was that.  Both also texted later that driving was CRAP in all directions.   The highway back to Dr.Cowboy/BreadTown was blocked by multiple jack knifed log trucks all night.  Part of the interstate north was as well.  Downed powerlines took out another road.  Here at the office, I had heat, food, entertainment, power, and a working toilet.   I've spent worse nights.  Much worse. The camping mattress though is utter crap!  I had tried to return it to Cabela's but they told me covid prevented them from taking returns at that time. It was warmer than the concrete floor, but otherwise not better.