Driving in Snow
Christmas morning we woke up to 4 inches of fresh snow. White Christmases are rare in Tennessee. So when we heard the prediction of snow, we expected maybe a dusting. We were quite surprised by 4 inches and more still falling when were set out to for our family gathering at my Mother’s house across the county.
On a normal “snow day” in Tennessee, everything shuts down. Schools are closed, businesses close and most folks stay home. So, normally, driving around in my Jeep, I have the roads to myself. At least that is what I expected when I headed out our long driveway.
I was really shocked at the number of tracks in the fresh snow. I was even more surprised by the number of vehicles out driving in the snow. And not just Jeeps and 4×4 trucks but mini vans and Lexus cars as well. The worst part of the drive was the other cars who seemed to have no idea where the center line was under the snow and tended to use my lane and theirs too as they slid toward me. Those little bumps in the snow in the middle of the road are caused by reflectors folks. It is a good guideline as to where your side ends and my side begins even if you can’t see the stripes.
We managed to make the trip that normally takes 20 minutes in just under an hour. The country scenery was beautiful.
As we ate and opened presents, the snow continued to softly fall. By the time we left there were a good seven inches accumulated. My two grown boys built a snow fort and had a snowball fight.
Back home, we played with the sled on some of hills in the front yard and even made a few runs down one of our steep Jeep trails. The Jeeps enjoyed slinging snow much the same as mud.
The next morning, the snow had crusted over with some ice. This made the sled run even faster down the hills. Some of the snow had melted off the roads. In fact most of the main roads were clear even though our driveway was still covered in snow. We made several runs down the hill on the sled.
On Monday, we were scheduled to travel to Mississippi for a family reunion. The Suburban was still covered in snow and I damaged a windshield wiper scraping snow and ice off the glass.
Dad’s driveway was still covered with ice making it hazardous to back his car out of the garage so we changed our plans and picked them up in the Suburban. The 4×4 does not get much use in the big truck but it sure made driving on the snow much safer feeling.
There was one long patch of ice on the road leading to their house but the Geolander tires and 4×4 made it feel fine as we drove across. We made it up the hill to their house and even up their steep driveway as easily as we had in the Jeep.
We saw traces of snow as far south as Pontotoc, Ms, where we stopped for the night.