Winter Travel Tales

[flowerbug]

Same here Steve

We're not quite that old, you young whippersnapper.

i'm pushing 60. slowly as i can... some *mumbles* months from now (less than 20) i can no longer claim to be mid-50s. since i never expected to live past 30 i consider this all bonus time and try to enjoy every moment i can while i can.

 

[Zeedman]

Although I've had a few near misses driving in Winter, so far no accidents. When we first moved here from California, DW made a turn onto a freeway on ramp a little too fast & slid into the culvert... but no damage, and a kind passer by pulled her out.

I too shared one kiss with a culvert, driving to Milwaukee in Winter. There was a little snow on the road (mostly in the left lane) but skies were clear, and I was driving carefully. UNTIL I found myself behind a super-slow car, going 35-40 on the freeway. I became impatient, and thought it was safe enough to pass; that proved to be a poor decision. As luck would have it, we were just coming over a hill - and at the top, we were suddenly hit with a very strong crosswind. It was so strong that it whistled through the window cracks; and literally pushed me off the road, into the ditch between the lanes. It was scary, we spun a couple times... but the deep snow stopped us without damage. A nice trucker pulled us out a few minutes later.

Sometimes it's those unexpected hazards which catch you by surprise. @flowerbug , I had a near miss on the way to the Michigan seed swap. Because the weather had been warm enough to melt any snow on the road, we decided to drive the northern route, through the U.P. & into lower Michigan. The weather was unseasonably warm, it was a beautiful drive, and there was no snow or ice in sight for the entire drive. But somewhere in the U.P. there was a hill, and the road turned on the backside. Invisible until you came over the hill was a river of snow melt, covering about 50-75' of the road - on the downhill curve! I reacted quickly, but still hydroplaned a little, until we coasted onto dry road. We were fortunate that I was not driving any faster, and that no one was in the oncoming lane when we hydroplaned. There really should have been signage warning motorists of that hazard, I hope no one had an accident there.

 

[heirloomgal]

One of the frightening driving situations I had hoped to never experience actually happened yesterday; not the full tilt version but still, not pleasant. Driving on a long stretch of no man's land semi-highway (70 km/hr) I had to stop at the only light & crosswalk it has. The freeze thaw cycle has made for some quite slippery conditions lately and black ice, even without much snow. I could see in the semi-darkness a pedestrian crossing at the cross walk and as I was trying to slow down I started sliding right towards him. I pumped the brakes and luckily he saw my car skidding and made a run for it. Thank goodness that I was driving very cautiously and under the speed limit as I was, I wouldn't like to think about what else might have happened.

 

[flowerbug]

...speaking of culverts and seatbelts reminds me of an old friend who i've not spoken to in many years now. he was driving on I75 down this ways and did not have his seatbelt on for some reason and somehow something clicked in his brain and he put it on. not too far along after that he fell asleep and ended up running down the middle of the highway, up and over a bank and into a small river where he landed and stopped upside down hanging from his seatbelt.

Sometimes it's those unexpected hazards which catch you by surprise. @flowerbug , I had a near miss on the way to the Michigan seed swap. Because the weather had been warm enough to melt any snow on the road, we decided to drive the northern route, through the U.P. & into lower Michigan. The weather was unseasonably warm, it was a beautiful drive, and there was no snow or ice in sight for the entire drive. But somewhere in the U.P. there was a hill, and the road turned on the backside. Invisible until you came over the hill was a river of snow melt, covering about 50-75' of the road - on the downhill curve! I reacted quickly, but still hydroplaned a little, until we coasted onto dry road. We were fortunate that I was not driving any faster, and that no one was in the oncoming lane when we hydroplaned. There really should have been signage warning motorists of that hazard, I hope no one had an accident there.

if that was east of Escanaba then I've driven or ridden that stretch of road many many times, but they've added passing lanes now which makes it much more tolerable. US2 is the alternate southern route i mentioned above and it runs along Lake Michigan and there are great shoreline views and sand dunes along there. something else that is interesting is that almost that entire area contains scattered native American burial spaces. i had an archaeology class in college taught by the professor who did a survey along that coast when they wanted to expand the highway and so she could talk about what they found. every time i drive along there a few spots she mentioned stand out in my memory. she was an excellent teacher who also taught the anthropology class.

anyways in later winter and spring the grass along that highway is about the only greens deer can find and you'll be driving along with hundreds of deer grazing the shoulders of the road and perhaps too they are after the salt. all i do know is that there have been several time when i've driven through there and stopped counting deer because there have been so many. that is one reason why i normally just went the more northern route instead (besides it being faster) which took you up towards Newberry and then you would come across M-28. not scenic at all really, very flat and mostly swampy or scrubby trees but quicker. the actual scenic part was if you kept going north you would end up going by the park where Taquamanen Falls is at (i'm pretty sure i didn't spell that right )...

 

[flowerbug]

One of the frightening driving situations I had hoped to never experience actually happened yesterday; not the full tilt version but still, not pleasant. Driving on a long stretch of no man's land semi-highway (70 km/hr) I had to stop at the only light & crosswalk it has. The freeze thaw cycle has made for some quite slippery conditions lately and black ice, even without much snow. I could see in the semi-darkness a pedestrian crossing at the cross walk and as I was trying to slow down I started sliding right towards him. I pumped the brakes and luckily he saw my car skidding and made a run for it. Thank goodness that I was driving very cautiously and under the speed limit as I was, I wouldn't like to think about what else might have happened.

i'm glad you didn't hit them! wow...

 

[heirloomgal]

i'm glad you didn't hit them! wow...

I'm one of those SUPER cautious people when it comes to driving - roads, other drivers, animals, weather conditions you name it. Some people walk away from being in cars that have rolled or been hit and are unscathed, they just get on with things. Not me. Twice I've been in vehicle rolls - as a teen and then young adult, of course - (not me driving) I now approach all driving with the intense scanning attention of a forest animal. If I'm not behind the wheel, I am not having a good time.

Thankfully, that guy was able to pick up on my troubles because I started trying to brake way back, and while I didn't make the stop where I should have, it signalled to him well enough to get outta the way. The scariest thing I'm seeing out there right now with pedestrians is HEADPHONES. If that guy had had those on, might have been a different outcome.

 

[flowerbug]

I'm one of those SUPER cautious people when it comes to driving - roads, other drivers, animals, weather conditions you name it. Some people walk away from being in cars that have rolled or been hit and are unscathed, they just get on with things. Not me. Twice I've been in vehicle rolls - as a teen and then young adult, of course - (not me driving) I now approach all driving with the intense scanning attention of a forest animal. If I'm not behind the wheel, I am not having a good time.

Thankfully, that guy was able to pick up on my troubles because I started trying to brake way back, and while I didn't make the stop where I should have, it signalled to him well enough to get outta the way. The scariest thing I'm seeing out there right now with pedestrians is HEADPHONES. If that guy had had those on, might have been a different outcome.

among many other things distracting people these days. i'm glad you survived your episodes of vertical roundaboutitis.