Snake Farm
Ol school snake charmer!
We've only seen the ground around here two other times since Thanksgiving and then only breifly....so when the grass started to show yesterday I should have known what would be next. Yep, this afternoon we got hit by 7-8 inches of wet HEAVY snow. The kind that brings down trees and power lines and shuts down interstates (58 accidents reported on a 30 mile stretch of I-79 near me
).
Sure it turns everything into a winter wonderland........
.....but this is what greeted me on my drive home from work.....
It's only 5 miles on a two lane state route but although they are short it has three steep grades to traverse. I snapped the pic above as I waited my turn to creep down the middle grade and head up the longest of the three. I used the half mile long level straight away at the foot of the hill to put some good distance between me and the black S-10 in the photo so I would stand a better chance of maintaining my momentum, which I depend on because this is my daily driver........
......yes it's 2-wheel drive! In fact I've never had a 4X4 daily driver in my life and I've had no really disastrous winter escapades to speak of in 35 years of driving. I know my limitations, I plan my starts and stops, I watch what's going on waaaaaay ahead of me and usually manage to dodge and maneuver around the "over confident" four-wheel drive crowd (like the pick-up in the brush). However as I neared the top of the third grade moving steadily at my 30 mph pace I noticed I was overtaking the black S-10 rather quickly. In fact about 100 yds short of the top in the last turn he slowly spun out and came to a stop almost broad side in front of me and although I considered going around him I was too close to clear him by this time and I had to stop too! So here I sit in about 3 inches of freshly packed slush , on a 9-10 % grade, in an elevated turn, in a 2-wheel drive van knowing there was no way on earth I would be able to take off again.....and believe it or not I wasn't even all that upset! That is until...................he puts the truck into 4WD and takes off fishtailing up the road Don't know what people are thinking sometimes........maybe he wanted to brag how he made it home in 2WD?[S
Now although I drive 2-wheel drive vans I've always kept them shoed up with rough treads all the way around as if they were 4X4's and I just recently put 4 brand new Avalanche Extremes on for the winter. I've never ran them before but so far this winter I've been very impressed with them and after this evening I'm nothing short of amazed because after a little digging and fishtailing of my own I actually managed to take off again!! Made it home in time for supper and now I'm hitting the sack so I can do it all over again in the morning
Wish me luck,
Ray
). Sure it turns everything into a winter wonderland........
.....but this is what greeted me on my drive home from work.....
It's only 5 miles on a two lane state route but although they are short it has three steep grades to traverse. I snapped the pic above as I waited my turn to creep down the middle grade and head up the longest of the three. I used the half mile long level straight away at the foot of the hill to put some good distance between me and the black S-10 in the photo so I would stand a better chance of maintaining my momentum, which I depend on because this is my daily driver........
......yes it's 2-wheel drive! In fact I've never had a 4X4 daily driver in my life and I've had no really disastrous winter escapades to speak of in 35 years of driving. I know my limitations, I plan my starts and stops, I watch what's going on waaaaaay ahead of me and usually manage to dodge and maneuver around the "over confident" four-wheel drive crowd (like the pick-up in the brush). However as I neared the top of the third grade moving steadily at my 30 mph pace I noticed I was overtaking the black S-10 rather quickly. In fact about 100 yds short of the top in the last turn he slowly spun out and came to a stop almost broad side in front of me and although I considered going around him I was too close to clear him by this time and I had to stop too! So here I sit in about 3 inches of freshly packed slush , on a 9-10 % grade, in an elevated turn, in a 2-wheel drive van knowing there was no way on earth I would be able to take off again.....and believe it or not I wasn't even all that upset! That is until...................he puts the truck into 4WD and takes off fishtailing up the road
Don't know what people are thinking sometimes........maybe he wanted to brag how he made it home in 2WD?[SNow although I drive 2-wheel drive vans I've always kept them shoed up with rough treads all the way around as if they were 4X4's and I just recently put 4 brand new Avalanche Extremes on for the winter. I've never ran them before but so far this winter I've been very impressed with them and after this evening I'm nothing short of amazed because after a little digging and fishtailing of my own I actually managed to take off again!! Made it home in time for supper and now I'm hitting the sack so I can do it all over again in the morning
Wish me luck,
Ray
