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The life and times of Colleen and Scott Platt in Iowa and beyond.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Driving in Snow

Last Thursday I (Colleen) had an adventure on the way home--not a fun adventure, however.  I had a lot of work to do, and planned to stay at work late.  I knew that snow was possible, so I went downstairs at work and checked outside many times, and there was not a single flake of snow in the air.  At 6:30pm Scott called me and told me that he was between Pella and Oskaloosa, and it was very snowy...I decided to leave then.  Two miles south of Des Moines, I ran into snow; by the time I turned onto Hwy 92 (the half-way point), the road was pretty awful.  I got to Knoxville (25 miles from home), and seriously considered getting off and getting a hotel room, but was unable to see the exits in the snow, so decided to just continue home.

The road had been plowed at one point, but about 4 inches had compiled since then.  Hwy 92 is two land from Knoxville to Osky, so there was not a lot of extra room to negotiate, especially when there was oncoming traffic.  I could kinda tell where the edge of the road was based on the earlier plow lines, but a couple times my right side tires went off the edge of the pavement, and I had to swerve back on.  Meanwhile, the snow was falling sideways, my window was icing over, and the road was slick.  I drove in 2nd gear the entire way from Knoxville to Osky!  A couple times going up hills I was a little worried I would just slide right back down. 

Finally, after about 2.5 hours of traveling, I made it home.  That's about twice the normal time.  My heart rate was up, my hands were cramped from gripping the steering wheel, and I was sweating because I had to keep the defrost on high to keep the window clear, and it was hot in the car!  I had spent the last hour in my car praying and driving, and thank God that he brought me home.

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