SNOW! SNOW! AND MORE SNOW!
After the ticket in Green Valley, AZ, we finally made it to Nogales to pick up a load heading to Rochester, NY instead of the planned on Florida anniversary trip. By the time we made Missouri, the cold weather had set in and only continued to get worse the farther east we went. St. Louis began the really bad weather and it took nearly an hour to get across to Illinois, and by the time we hit Indiana our top speed was about twenty six miles an hour. Needless to say, we didn't make our appointment in New York. But we did make it, which is more than some can say.
Most of the wrecks were four wheelers (cars), due to driving too fast. We had a couple of close calls with four wheelers who didn't want to be behind or beside a big truck, so they sped by, lost control in front of us, and thanks to some great driving on Nathan's part, we avoided being caught up in their stupidity! Because of the deep snow, there were no real injuries, except to the pride of those who landed in the ditch or median. Unfortunately, there were a couple of big truck accidents that did result in injuries to the four wheelers who hit them, and I have to say, I am very proud of the drivers who chose to dump their trucks in the ditch rather than directly hit the vehicles who tangled with them.
If you saw the 40 car collision on highway 71 north of Columbus, Ohio, you know what we were dealing with. Fortunately, the wreck, with its twenty-nine mile back up, was on the southbound lanes and we didn't wind up sitting for hours at that location.
Following are some pics I took along the way. Please remember all the pics are taken while the truck is moving, and some of the roads are very rough, especially on the ice and snow, so some are blurry. My bad! :)
Sunset in AZ
F4 Phantom located in Corona, AZ at the VFW
This truck lost his trailer tandems in Oklahoma
The tandems that should be under the trailer!
The blue car was driving too fast when trying to make a left on to the on-ramp.
Snowing in Missouri near St. Louis.
Near St. Louis.
A car lost control in front of this truck and he hit the median guardrail.
Like I said, we were driving! Sorry about the focus.
The St. Louis arch in the snow.
This truck also swerved to miss hitting a car. (Illinois)
Pieces of the bumper.
The driver was injured in this crash.
This truck and car were involved with the truck above.
Westbound lane as we were heading east.
All part of the westbound wreck.
This was in Ohio on 71N.
The cab of the above truck.
This straight truck just slid off the road in front of us.
This car was involved in the 40-car pile up on 71N.
Most of the vehicles had already been moved by the
time we reached the wreck area, but a few cars and
quite a few trucks were still being towed.
Wow! Terrible driving conditions and way too much snow. Great shots, Rie...even the moving ones. :)
ReplyDeleteThia was VERY bad. My daughter and her husband are heading back east this Monday and I'm sending them through the far southern route into North Carolina via the 40 east and then onto the 95 north from there. They will miss the snow by the time they reach NJ. They will go through the snow in Maryland but by the time they reach that the roads will be cleared. Taking the southern route may not omit bad weather going through New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, but once they reach Georgia they should be ok from there I hope. The truck has 4 wheel drive and she is a safe driver so lets hope they will be ok. Keep me posted on your way back Rie so I can tell them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, that's way too much snow! My kids are in KC and I think they're expecting eight more inches of the stuff. Glad you're safe!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. I hope your daughter makes it home w/o incident, Patti. The southern route is expecting a lot of rain, if it ain't one thing it's another!
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