Two years ago my two weeks for Christmas with family in Montana
stretched to four mainly because of the weather and trying to plot a
route between the storms. Unfortunately both television news and
weather service radio broadcasts are unhelpful because they are trying
to prevent you from going out in it, with good reason, but it is
difficult to get an accurate idea of what the weather and road
conditions really are. However, as Moose says, even if you knew it can
all change in a few minutes.
Most interstates in my experience are plowed, but less used ones may
not be. Even when they are plowed, what you may get is not a clean
road, but a level snow pack to drive on. If any of it has melted
during the day and refrozen into "black ice" during the night it is
very dangerous. Chains on one end of your car do not mean that the end
without chains will not slide. Oh and driving with chains is pretty
much like driving in a school zone as far as speed is concerned. Not
pleasant for a 2500 mile round trip.
Some roads may have not services in winter for hundreds of miles. They
close everything in the winter on long stretches of road. Frequently
your only choice in gasoline is one laced with lots of ethanol which
drops the distance you can drive on a tank by about a third and you
have to be very disciplined to keep filling your tank because you do
not know when you will be able to do it again. If you have problems,
hope your cell phone will work or a patrolman will come by soon. Take
a down sleeping bag, winter weight.
My worst experiences were when going through cities. Very slippery
going even with all wheel drive and M&S tires. No way would I do that
trip again, especially in an ordinary car.
Fly.
Winsor
Long Beach, California, USA
On / December 7, 2007 CE, at 10:51 PM, siddiq@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Aren't interstates usually kept plowed/clear? Figured if on them, dun
> hafta worry, and once in the city won't be driving at all.
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