So we venture out again all alone into unknown realms to find new adventures but this time, in the land of USA. I had a 3 day break for Christmas and I decided to do one of those long drives. This time I decided to visit Dallas which is about 820 miles and around 13 hours of journey one way. I took off two more days and reserved a full size rental car with cruise control for the travel. usually this wouldn't have been an adventure but the way it started, I was sure it was going to turn into one.
The Route
Being the crazy guy that I am, I decided to avoid the interstate which normal people would prefer. I did some consulting, research and found a route that reduces the distance by 100 miles. I have to drive through Limon, Kit Carson, Eads, Lamar, Springfield and Campo in Colorado, Boise city in Oklahoma, Dumas, Amarillo, Wichita Falls in Texas. It goes through small towns and crosses the great plains and mostly a two lane road. Also it is prone to high winds, blowing snow and ice rains. So i decided not to do the journey in one stretch and booked a hotel room half way through.
The Weather
I was supposed to start on Thursday afternoon and it snowed that Monday. I kept on checking the weather and it was supposed to be more or less clear after that day all along the route. I know I have said this before and I will say it again, if everything goes well then its definitely not my life. Wednesday night a snow storm sets and it continues to snow till the Thursday morning and almost a foot of snow has accumulated. Now any sane person would have second thoughts of starting on a journey in that kind of weather.
The Car
I reserved a full size car with cruise control and stuff so that the journey would be comfortable even if the conditions outside get worse. I got permission to leave early and went to the car rentals to collect my car. They didn't have any full size cars at that time, so they gave me a Ford Focus, and the guy said that it has cruise control and has no problems maneuvering in the snow.
The Journey
I got my first hint that this is going to turn into an adventure when I reversed the car out of the drive way after loading my stuff into the car and it got stuck in snow. I had no shovels, so I requested the neighbour and he came tot he rescue. We struggled a bit and got the car out of the snow, I thanked the guy and started on my journey. I was about one hour late. The drive was good although it was a bit slow with all the roads covered in snow and ice. Fifteen minutes into the journey I realized I forgot my music cds I have burnt for the trip. After driving a couple of hours the roads started clearing up and I started driving at the designated speed. The first thing I observed in the car, there is no cruise control, the second the the top speed is restricted to 80mph. This was my second hint. I stopped briefly to fill petrol (not gas) and buy some snacks.
After that there was very less or no snow on the roads and the sky was clear which was relief. I even caught up with some sunshine just before the sunset at 4:30PM. Yes the sun sets at that time and it gets dark by 5PM. After driving a while I realized that I am driving through the parts that was hit worst by the snow and the temperature kept on dropping as I went further. Most of the road was frozen, but the good thing was it was snow rather than ice. Again any sane person would decide to stop in the next town and spend the night there.
I have driven in those conditions twice earlier and was an experienced driver. So I gradually started increasing the speed to see how much the car can handle and I was surprised that the car maintained its grip on the road at even a decent 50mph.Now I have been told that there will be drivers with no experience in driving the snow and I wished there wasn't any ahead of me and within the next 5 minutes there was this guy driving at 20mph and a train of cars and trucks following that guy. I obliged for some time and decided to pass those vehicles and ultimately the driver who didn't have the guts to drive on an icy road and wouldn't pull over and give a chance to others.
At around 6:50 PM I thought I crossed the worst part of it and was about 29 miles from Boise City, Oklahoma. That is when I saw a long train of vehicles coming to a halt. The guy ahead of me informed that a big rig slid on ice and blocked all traffic for the next 3 miles. I sat there in the car for one and half hour observed the temperature dropping to 9 degrees Fahrenheit and the road freezing up. The block was cleared and everybody was driving really slow and initially I understood their predicament and i drove slowly along with them. After crossing into Oklahoma the roads were clear but the drivers were still going slow. I was running out of patience as I had to drive another hour and half to reach my hotel and it was already 10.
So I gave other drivers a taste of my Indian driving and started passing vehicles whenever I got a chance at times passing two to three trucks at a stretch. Most of the car drivers took my cue and started passing the slow drivers. After driving like that for a while I was the ahead of all the vehicles by the time I reached Boise City and even the roads have cleared up. I was about 50 miles from my hotel in Amarillo and the car started showing low Tyre pressure warning. I took my chances and drove on and reached the hotel at around 12:30
I woke up at 6AM, showered, had a hot breakfast and planned to start by 7 AM. When I reached the car, one of the tyres had very low pressure. So I drove to the nearest petrol bunk. I knew how to fill air in the tyres but I kind of forgot I have to put quarters in to get the air flowing. So I tried and tried but the pressure was not building up and then decided to change the tyre. Now there was a groove on the jack and I didn't know where to place it, so took help of some guys over there who chipped the ice off the bottom of the car, placed the jack and even lifted it for me.I thanked them and started removing the tyre. The car moved a bit which should have been my hint that I did not put the handbrake on but I was in no mood for hints with the freezing temperature around. When I pulled the tyre out, the car rolled forward, the jack got stuck under the car along with the tyre. I was like, Great!!! Now we are having fun!!!
Some guys came to help and remove the jack from under the car but it was impossible. So I borrowed another jack , placed it nearer to the rear tyre and lifted the car a bit and got the first jack out. Now i placed the jack back in its position but the rod that is used to lift the jack was bent making it almost impossible to rotate. I struggled with it for a bit and every time i turned it my hand scraped on the freezing ground. Another guy took pity on me and helped me with lifting the jack. Then he saw that there was nothing wrong with the original tyre and asked me to put in quarters to fill air. That is when I let out some silent obscenities. we filled the air and the guy asked me to get it checked in a tyre shop. I thanked the guy profoundly and continued on my journey at about 8:40 AM again taking my chances with the tyre. I covered good distance in time and thought I would fill petrol again an hour and half before I reached my destination and pulled into a service station. That is when I realized that the low tyre pressure warning came up again. Fortunately that service station had a tyre shop, the guy found a small puncture in the tyre, patched it up and sent me on my way. The rest of the journey was uneventful and I reached at around 3:20 PM, 26 hours after I started on my journey.
The Return Journey
The return journey started at 6 AM and I decided to do it in a single stretch. I thought the petrol would be sufficient to reach Amarillo but the needle started dipping down faster than expected and the petrol low warning sigh lit up about 50 miles from Amarillo. I was watching out for petrol stations in smaller towns, found a couple but they were out of service as expected. Thankfully I reached a petrol station just outside of Amarillo before I ran out of petro, filled the tank grabbed a slice of pizza and continued my journey.
At one stretch there were three trucks back to back and whenever I tried to cross the third truck that guy closed the gap between his truck and second truck and I had to back off. Then I looked for a long stretch of road and crossed all the three trucks in a single stretch. This might have pissed off the driver of the third truck, he passed the other two trucks and started chasing me. I approached a town and slowed down to 30 mph and the truck was right behind me and was trying to make me pull aside by getting nearer and nearer. Thankfully there was another guy who was watching this and he happened to be the town sheriff and he flashed his lights and sounded his siren as a warning sign and the truck backed off.
I was about 14 miles from the exit I was supposed to take to get to our local road and as expected the traffic slowed down due to an accident ahead. Thankfully I crossed the accident area soon and was on my way home. It took me about 13 hours from the start of the journey to the end and I reached home at about 6 PM.
Returning the car
The next day I went to the rental to return the car and told the guy that it did not have cruise control and there was a 80mph limit, this being America and not India that guy reduced the rental by 50% and gave me a free upgrade to full size car on my next rental.
The Route
Being the crazy guy that I am, I decided to avoid the interstate which normal people would prefer. I did some consulting, research and found a route that reduces the distance by 100 miles. I have to drive through Limon, Kit Carson, Eads, Lamar, Springfield and Campo in Colorado, Boise city in Oklahoma, Dumas, Amarillo, Wichita Falls in Texas. It goes through small towns and crosses the great plains and mostly a two lane road. Also it is prone to high winds, blowing snow and ice rains. So i decided not to do the journey in one stretch and booked a hotel room half way through.
The Weather
I was supposed to start on Thursday afternoon and it snowed that Monday. I kept on checking the weather and it was supposed to be more or less clear after that day all along the route. I know I have said this before and I will say it again, if everything goes well then its definitely not my life. Wednesday night a snow storm sets and it continues to snow till the Thursday morning and almost a foot of snow has accumulated. Now any sane person would have second thoughts of starting on a journey in that kind of weather.
The Car
I reserved a full size car with cruise control and stuff so that the journey would be comfortable even if the conditions outside get worse. I got permission to leave early and went to the car rentals to collect my car. They didn't have any full size cars at that time, so they gave me a Ford Focus, and the guy said that it has cruise control and has no problems maneuvering in the snow.
The Journey
I got my first hint that this is going to turn into an adventure when I reversed the car out of the drive way after loading my stuff into the car and it got stuck in snow. I had no shovels, so I requested the neighbour and he came tot he rescue. We struggled a bit and got the car out of the snow, I thanked the guy and started on my journey. I was about one hour late. The drive was good although it was a bit slow with all the roads covered in snow and ice. Fifteen minutes into the journey I realized I forgot my music cds I have burnt for the trip. After driving a couple of hours the roads started clearing up and I started driving at the designated speed. The first thing I observed in the car, there is no cruise control, the second the the top speed is restricted to 80mph. This was my second hint. I stopped briefly to fill petrol (not gas) and buy some snacks.
After that there was very less or no snow on the roads and the sky was clear which was relief. I even caught up with some sunshine just before the sunset at 4:30PM. Yes the sun sets at that time and it gets dark by 5PM. After driving a while I realized that I am driving through the parts that was hit worst by the snow and the temperature kept on dropping as I went further. Most of the road was frozen, but the good thing was it was snow rather than ice. Again any sane person would decide to stop in the next town and spend the night there.
I have driven in those conditions twice earlier and was an experienced driver. So I gradually started increasing the speed to see how much the car can handle and I was surprised that the car maintained its grip on the road at even a decent 50mph.Now I have been told that there will be drivers with no experience in driving the snow and I wished there wasn't any ahead of me and within the next 5 minutes there was this guy driving at 20mph and a train of cars and trucks following that guy. I obliged for some time and decided to pass those vehicles and ultimately the driver who didn't have the guts to drive on an icy road and wouldn't pull over and give a chance to others.
At around 6:50 PM I thought I crossed the worst part of it and was about 29 miles from Boise City, Oklahoma. That is when I saw a long train of vehicles coming to a halt. The guy ahead of me informed that a big rig slid on ice and blocked all traffic for the next 3 miles. I sat there in the car for one and half hour observed the temperature dropping to 9 degrees Fahrenheit and the road freezing up. The block was cleared and everybody was driving really slow and initially I understood their predicament and i drove slowly along with them. After crossing into Oklahoma the roads were clear but the drivers were still going slow. I was running out of patience as I had to drive another hour and half to reach my hotel and it was already 10.
So I gave other drivers a taste of my Indian driving and started passing vehicles whenever I got a chance at times passing two to three trucks at a stretch. Most of the car drivers took my cue and started passing the slow drivers. After driving like that for a while I was the ahead of all the vehicles by the time I reached Boise City and even the roads have cleared up. I was about 50 miles from my hotel in Amarillo and the car started showing low Tyre pressure warning. I took my chances and drove on and reached the hotel at around 12:30
I woke up at 6AM, showered, had a hot breakfast and planned to start by 7 AM. When I reached the car, one of the tyres had very low pressure. So I drove to the nearest petrol bunk. I knew how to fill air in the tyres but I kind of forgot I have to put quarters in to get the air flowing. So I tried and tried but the pressure was not building up and then decided to change the tyre. Now there was a groove on the jack and I didn't know where to place it, so took help of some guys over there who chipped the ice off the bottom of the car, placed the jack and even lifted it for me.I thanked them and started removing the tyre. The car moved a bit which should have been my hint that I did not put the handbrake on but I was in no mood for hints with the freezing temperature around. When I pulled the tyre out, the car rolled forward, the jack got stuck under the car along with the tyre. I was like, Great!!! Now we are having fun!!!
Some guys came to help and remove the jack from under the car but it was impossible. So I borrowed another jack , placed it nearer to the rear tyre and lifted the car a bit and got the first jack out. Now i placed the jack back in its position but the rod that is used to lift the jack was bent making it almost impossible to rotate. I struggled with it for a bit and every time i turned it my hand scraped on the freezing ground. Another guy took pity on me and helped me with lifting the jack. Then he saw that there was nothing wrong with the original tyre and asked me to put in quarters to fill air. That is when I let out some silent obscenities. we filled the air and the guy asked me to get it checked in a tyre shop. I thanked the guy profoundly and continued on my journey at about 8:40 AM again taking my chances with the tyre. I covered good distance in time and thought I would fill petrol again an hour and half before I reached my destination and pulled into a service station. That is when I realized that the low tyre pressure warning came up again. Fortunately that service station had a tyre shop, the guy found a small puncture in the tyre, patched it up and sent me on my way. The rest of the journey was uneventful and I reached at around 3:20 PM, 26 hours after I started on my journey.
The Return Journey
The return journey started at 6 AM and I decided to do it in a single stretch. I thought the petrol would be sufficient to reach Amarillo but the needle started dipping down faster than expected and the petrol low warning sigh lit up about 50 miles from Amarillo. I was watching out for petrol stations in smaller towns, found a couple but they were out of service as expected. Thankfully I reached a petrol station just outside of Amarillo before I ran out of petro, filled the tank grabbed a slice of pizza and continued my journey.
At one stretch there were three trucks back to back and whenever I tried to cross the third truck that guy closed the gap between his truck and second truck and I had to back off. Then I looked for a long stretch of road and crossed all the three trucks in a single stretch. This might have pissed off the driver of the third truck, he passed the other two trucks and started chasing me. I approached a town and slowed down to 30 mph and the truck was right behind me and was trying to make me pull aside by getting nearer and nearer. Thankfully there was another guy who was watching this and he happened to be the town sheriff and he flashed his lights and sounded his siren as a warning sign and the truck backed off.
I was about 14 miles from the exit I was supposed to take to get to our local road and as expected the traffic slowed down due to an accident ahead. Thankfully I crossed the accident area soon and was on my way home. It took me about 13 hours from the start of the journey to the end and I reached home at about 6 PM.
Returning the car
The next day I went to the rental to return the car and told the guy that it did not have cruise control and there was a 80mph limit, this being America and not India that guy reduced the rental by 50% and gave me a free upgrade to full size car on my next rental.
