Now that we were west of the Mississippi, there were a couple of harrowing days on the road. Not terribly dangerous, don’t fret. But wheel-gripping, what-am-I-doing-here days.
Wind-blown Kansas
Claudia and I had a restful Sunday night in Dorothy's Backyard – a literal backyard driveway, off an alley in Hays, Kansas.
I woke up and checked the news and found this in the News top headlines:
Headline: “Severe storms, including ‘intense tornadoes’ threaten 40 million this week.”
Ummmm….. I didn’t want us to be two of the 40 million, and as those tornadoes were possible in Kansas in the afternoon, I thought it prudent to get out of Dodge – errrrr, Hays – posthaste.
Gripping the wheel, with dark clouds on the western horizon, we set out. I was hoping we wouldn’t be flying from Dorothy’s backyard to Denver. I definitely didn't want to meet any evil witches on bicycles.
It was windy. Very windy.
When I came back from the restroom at a rest area, Claudia told me the case for my reading glasses was somewhere on the plains of Kansas. It had flown out and was gone forever. Poppy was shuddering in the wind as we sat there, and the signs were shaking like crazy.
I didn’t want to look at the windspeed numbers because I thought I’d be a-scared to keep going.
So we kept going.
I stayed relaxed and confident, though. I just slowed Poppy down, kept a firm grip, and stayed relaxed. We made minimal stops, and soon enough the sky was clearing to blue and the wind eased up a little. We made it to Denver in very good time. And we didn’t fly!
Despite the wind, we enjoyed the Kansas landscape. It wasn’t quite as flat and boring as I had imagined – and remembered. But maybe it's cuz we were jibber-jabbering the whole way. We had lots of time to chat.
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| Perfect place for a wind farm! And there were plenty. |
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| Blue skies! No tornadoes! |
After I dropped Claudia at the Denver airport, I found a McDonald’s and sat in their parking lot with their wi-fi. I blogged and got nearly caught up!
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| Ready to blog with a Dr. Pepper float. |
I made the short rest of the way to my next spot, a Boondockers Welcome in Lakewood, CO. It was just a driveway at a nice someone’s house, but it was quiet and safe. And free!
It was a restful night. I'm slapping myself for not getting a pic of Poppy there. Imagine Poppy here:
Springtime in the Rockies
When I had set out Tuesday morning, I thought my biggest challenge of the day would be Poppy having to rev up those big hills. In my mind’s eye, the sky was clear and the road was dry.
But then it started snowing.
A smarter traveler may have checked the weather forecast before setting out from Denver. A wiser traveler may have pulled off at the earliest opportunity (but there weren’t many) and formulated Plan B.
This traveler, however, forged ahead.
“Just keep it slow,” she said.
“I’ve driven in worse,” she said.
"Poppy is a heavy, trusty beast," she said.
“Keep breathing,” she said.
“Don’t brake suddenly,” she said.
“Remember to turn into the slide,” she said.
“Hold her steady!” she said.
And she did.
The Vail Pass is over 10,000 feet in elevation. And snow is not fun up and down those grades. I just kept Poppy in low gear and tried to stay “sandwiched” between friends. Following in another slow RV’s footsteps, ...errrr wheel tracks, comforted me. And having another slow vehicle behind me, I knew I had help if something happened.
The snow accumulated to mostly just slushy mush, and it was very slow going. Poppy was one of the slowest vehicles on the road, and that was mighty fine with me.
Indeed I had driven in worse, though it had been decades since I had driven in snow. I remained calm and steady, and we only slip-slid one brief time. And yes, I remembered to steer into the slide.
Many times, I asked myself, “What the hell are you doing here?” Yet there I was. There was no turning back.
I didn't see any wrecks, and many vehicles were driving confidently and quicker than me and Poppy for much of the time. So that also comforted me. I only saw one vehicle off the road, on the other side, that was getting picked up by a tow truck.
I didn't watch the time or my speed, but I think I drove about 85 miles in about 3 hours.
I did keep my eye on the temperature, and sure enough when we started descending, the temp started climbing, and the snow stopped sticking to the road. Whew! Made it!
When I reached the bottom, I noticed the eastbound lanes were closed. Traffic was at a standstill. “Thank goodness that’s not me!” That night, I saw the news that the pass was closed, first for the eastbound lanes, and later, in both directions. I guess I was lucky that I got on the road as early as I did.
Once I reached the non-sticking part of the road, I was able to take my eye off the tracks in front of me and enjoy the beauty of the mountains in snow. As soon as I could, I stopped at a rest area to unclench my shoulders.
I knocked the ice off of dear Poppy and took some photos and video.
Yes, Mom, I must remember that I have a cozy den, and pulling off for the night would not be the worst thing to happen. Next time, perhaps the traveler will be wiser. But at least now, she is more experienced.
