bbmyls2go
". . . but I have MILES TO GO before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost
start of a rough winter ?
Man! Today is the kind of winter driving day that just builds tension with each passing mile. Came up from central Tennessee this morning in the rain and north of Knoxville encountered the first of many problems to come. I-81 was closed due to an accident with a afatality that occured last nite. CB rumor is that a car crossed the median and struck a tanker head-on. The tanker then hit a bridge abutment and burst into flames killing 3 people. For me it meant a 20 miles one hour detour - an hour that would count by the end of the day. Crossing into Virginia we were in rain (note :"we" by a trucker usually just means the driver and his rig, a strange plurality I noticed when I was younger, as soon as I got on the CB, I became we : "we're headed to PA" "we're going to stop for fuel" "we're passing milemarker whatever")
The rain often slowed traffic when cars got nervous from the spray off truck tires, when they merged onto the highway at 30mph, and when the snowfall on the shoulders started to creep closer to the roadway. Another accident, another closure, anther detour, by now it's dark and around 32 degrees and everyone is cautious making sure that there is still water coming off the tires (when it stops, that can indicate you are on ice). Snowplows clearing the shoulders slow traaffic, rubberneckers at accidents from last night, now just snow covered cars (and a few 18 wheelers) in ditches, also slow down the flow. I counted 3 accidents that were current, with police, fire and tow vehicles present causing more miles of stop and go traffic. It is 7pm and I had hoped to be in Carlisle by now as I approach the West VA line only to hear the warning on the radio, 3 trucks crossing a bridge played bumpercars and all three are now blocking the interstate, 2 of them ending up across the median in front of the bridge. (this is from my guess, and my experience, coming down the hill, approaching the bridge, cars suddenly slowed causing the trucks to stop quickly which they obviously couldn't do. To avoid rearending the cars, the rigs banged each other and went off the road - very similar to what happened to me in Virginia 7 years ago - (if you recall, while trying to stop suddenly from 40 mph in the rain I sideswiped another truck to my right before being forced back to the fast lane, against the guardrail, and into the car that had come to a stop). Well, I did have some luck today, as word went out that the interstate would likely be closed for hours while the 3 trucks were pulled out of their tangle, I came up on the last truckstop before the backup began. The lot is covered with 4 inches of slush and ice and I managed to squeeze into one of the last half dozen parking spaces available. I'll grab some chow here, watch some tv, and stay the night. I have to be in Carlisle by 11am and will have another 100 miles to go so I should be up and on the road by 8. With more luck, the extreme cold tonite will dry the highway overnite and there won't be an ice problem in the morning.
The rain often slowed traffic when cars got nervous from the spray off truck tires, when they merged onto the highway at 30mph, and when the snowfall on the shoulders started to creep closer to the roadway. Another accident, another closure, anther detour, by now it's dark and around 32 degrees and everyone is cautious making sure that there is still water coming off the tires (when it stops, that can indicate you are on ice). Snowplows clearing the shoulders slow traaffic, rubberneckers at accidents from last night, now just snow covered cars (and a few 18 wheelers) in ditches, also slow down the flow. I counted 3 accidents that were current, with police, fire and tow vehicles present causing more miles of stop and go traffic. It is 7pm and I had hoped to be in Carlisle by now as I approach the West VA line only to hear the warning on the radio, 3 trucks crossing a bridge played bumpercars and all three are now blocking the interstate, 2 of them ending up across the median in front of the bridge. (this is from my guess, and my experience, coming down the hill, approaching the bridge, cars suddenly slowed causing the trucks to stop quickly which they obviously couldn't do. To avoid rearending the cars, the rigs banged each other and went off the road - very similar to what happened to me in Virginia 7 years ago - (if you recall, while trying to stop suddenly from 40 mph in the rain I sideswiped another truck to my right before being forced back to the fast lane, against the guardrail, and into the car that had come to a stop). Well, I did have some luck today, as word went out that the interstate would likely be closed for hours while the 3 trucks were pulled out of their tangle, I came up on the last truckstop before the backup began. The lot is covered with 4 inches of slush and ice and I managed to squeeze into one of the last half dozen parking spaces available. I'll grab some chow here, watch some tv, and stay the night. I have to be in Carlisle by 11am and will have another 100 miles to go so I should be up and on the road by 8. With more luck, the extreme cold tonite will dry the highway overnite and there won't be an ice problem in the morning.
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