Typically I never have a problem driving in the winter weather and I think that the state is absolutely crazy the way they act when it snows. As long as the snow is not above my truck I will be out in it. Being from the north I am use to the snow. I am normally one of the few and always the first at work when it snows, may slip a little but make it with no problems. If I want to go out and do something I will just do it and not worry about what is on the ground. I can control my vehicle very well and know how to react when I do start to slide…….
but let me tell you…..
My drive home today was complete hell. What normally takes me 20-25 minutes to get home took me three hours. It was the longest three hours I have ever spent in a car. From the moment I left I was sliding all over the road. It took me 45minutes to get from one end of Lead Mine to the other end. At this point I decided the beltline would probably be my best bet as it seemed none of the other roads had anything done to them. Getting up the ramp to get onto 440 was just as bad as Lead Mind, sliding right along. I went about 50ft on the beltline and pretty much came to a stand still. I was moving extemely slow, which at the time I was not all that upset, because even 440 was not cleared that well. The whole time I am thinking of every option I had to get home, what would take the least amount of time and be the best as far as roads. I decided to stay on 440. Between the Lake Boone and Wade Ave exits was where all the hold up was. There was basically a half mile of a solid sheet of ice across the entire highway. I was going good, nice and slow and steady and all of a sudden started to slide. I could do nothing to get out of the slide and I was headed toward a tow truck on the shoulder of the road. Luckily I did not hit it but I know I had to be less then an inch from it when I finally came to a stop. He moved up a good amount so that I could try to get around him but, unfortunately I was almost completely sideways. I started to get frustrated because not only could I correct myself but I knew I was holding just about everyone up. Finally someone was nice enought to pull my back around with a tow rope get past me and pull me so that I straigtened out. Whoever he was I thank him so much because I was completly out of ideas as to what to do. Now that I was straightened out I was able to make it the rest of the way, but I was so ready to be home and out of the truck. I finally got home and as soon as I stepped out of the truck I felt my body start to shake. I am glad I am able to keep calm at times like that at least until I am out of the situation. It took me some time to finally get myself relaxed and stop shaking. I will say that this time I will allow NC to talk about how bad the roads are because they really are bad.
I have decided that when I go to bed tonight I am not setting the alarm and I will just go into work when I wake up tomorrow because I am not going through that again. NC really needs to figure out how to take care of their roads better when it snows.