The cross country drive

Portland to St Petersburg is a very long drive.  3, 179 miles.  Five very long days.  Even in good weather conditions it is a grueling drive.  Much of my drive was in less than good conditions.  Parts of it were in horrid conditions. 

My original planned route would have taken me east to Illinois before turning south.  After one day of driving I had to toss that route and find a new one.  A massive winter storm would close off the Midwest.  At the end of day one I was in northern Utah and had to find a way to get south without going very far out of my way.  That meant continuing east to Colorado and then diving south.

Parts of the drive across southern Wyoming were concerning.  The country was snow covered and new snow was falling.  Snow fall intensified as I drove south in Colorado.  The weather was deteriorating quickly.  I woke up on day three to -17 F with strong north winds creating windchill at -39 F.  There wasn't a lot of new snow on the ground, but blowing snow and the dangerously low temperatures made me question whether I should stay put or push on.

I did push on.  The road south was in good condition and wind was mostly from behind me, which the Civic handled easily.  Conditions suddenly turned bad as I approached Wichita Falls Texas.  The road became snow covered and then there were large sections of ice.  I overnighted in Wichita Falls in hope that the morning would bring improved conditions. 

It did not.  The entire 80 plus mile stretch to Ft Worth was a continuous sheet of glaring ice.  I'd never seen such an expanse of ice.  The ditches and median was littered with cars and trucks that had fallen off the surface.  The smallest mistake would do that.  Driving required complete concentration and delicate movements.  It was slow going.  Demanding.  The challenge was to get safely across, not quickly across.  Nonetheless I found my pace picking up.  I grew more confident in the Honda's handling.   By the time I approached the Ft Worth/Dallas metroplex, I was comfortably negotiating the snowy, icy road conditions there that other traffic seemed utterly intimidated by.

After slogging through the DFW traffic road conditions became good again.  I got to Baton rouge that evening, thinking that I'd left the bad stuff behind.  But after dinner I checked in with the Weather Channel.  I was shocked to hear talk of sleet and freezing rain for the next day - even down here along the Gulf Coast.  I slept  well for a few hours but at 1 AM was wide awake.  I turned on the Weather Channel again.  Sleet and ice was on the way.  I couldn't sleep now.  I got up and going.  I was determined to drive out of this threatened area before the it arrived.

My decision paid off.  I encountered some rain but avoided the falling temperatures and dangerous conditions that came later.  I drove on for 12 hours and arrived safely that afternoon back in St Petersburg.