So, winter is hitting hard in our area. The high temperature of the day was 19 deg F (-7 deg C) with winds around 18 miles per hour (29 kilometers per hour). It snowed over night, so everything was covered in white stuff this morning. Ultimately, this gave me the chance to finally drive in snow.
One of the wife’s prescriptions was ready to pick up at the pharmacy. It is one that she can’t miss a dose and we ran out yesterday. I’d meant to get out to the pharmacy yesterday to get it but the day got away from me.
I went out and de-iced part of the walk, as the wife wanted to go out and do some errands. With the snow continuing and the winds it wasn’t feasible to get her out and down the steps.
I got out and into the car. It took a bit to get the windows cleared. I ran the heater but got impatient, so I finally got out and used the ice scraper to scrape the rest of the windshield clear.
The worst part of driving in the snow is that we live at the top of a hill, with a fairly steep incline going up and down. With all the snow on it, I was concerned that the car might start sliding down it. I took things slow and made it down the hill without incident.
The streets were fairly clear. It seems the town is good about removing the snow and throwing down salt. The drawback to that is that your car gets a layer of salt all over it as you drive around. What was really troublesome is that I tried running the windshield wipers to clean off the windshield. All I ended up doing was getting streaks all over it, making it difficult to see. I’m not sure if it was the water being wiped across the windshield freezing suddenly into a very thin piece of ice, or if it was a layer of salt. I suspect it was latter.
Another potential hazard was water on the road. There were some large patches of road that looked wet. I suspect that it might have been ice patches, although it didn’t seem to affect driving. It could have just been all the cars going over the bits of snow left on the road and melting it to water. Again, taking things slow and careful I made it past those sections of road without incident.
I got to the pharmacy, picked up the wife’s meds, and headed back home.
I made another stop at the grocery store on the way home to grab a few things we needed. I figured I didn’t want to be out in the cold any more than I needed to be. The grocery store is also at the top of a hill with a steep incline. Got in, got groceries, and got out, then home.
After I got home, the wife decided we needed some more things from the grocery store so a little later in the afternoon I went back out in the nasty winter weather.
All in all, driving in the snow wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Granted this was two short trips, along mostly clear roads, with only a little potential ice. There was a very light snow falling while I was out and about. If that’s the extent of the conditions around here when it snows, I feel confident about being ale to maneuver my way around. Driving to another nearby town, on highways that might be icy, with heavier snowfall will be more of a challenge. On the whole I feel like if it is that much of a potential hazard, I should just stay home and hibernate.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum