Day 2:
We got up at my sisters to a beautiful day. The plan for the trip was that we would get to Route 66 and drive it as far as we could/wanted with an ultimate goal of Oklahoma on the first day. It was an ambitious goal, but we also needed to be back in Indiana on Monday so we could both fulfill other obligations on Tuesday. If we didn't get to Oklahoma, it wasn't a big deal, but you have to have goals right?
(My brother in law's Subaru STI. 400hp at the wheels on regular pump gas. Yowza!)
My wife and I got on the road and were in the greatest of moods. What an incredible trip. As we headed towards Route 66, we noticed something interesting though: The Trees in Arizona were starting to turn white. Then we noticed the grass was all gone, replaced with this whiteness. Being from the midwest we knew that it was snow, but we hadn't expected that in Arizona. We looked it up and because of the elevation we were at snow was something that happened from time to time.
Nothing could prepare us for what happened next.
It REALLY started to snow. And it didn't stop.
This is a video my wife took while we were driving.
I'm not afraid of a little weather in a Corvette. I also currently have a 1992 LT1 6 speed and a 1988 Z52 4+3 (
for sale here). The problem came when it snowed almost the entire way from Arizona, to Amarillo Texas. All the planning I had done, all the weather forecasts, all of the time spent getting everything in order was now gone. Instead of Cruising at 75-85mph down Route 66, we were traveling between 40 and 60mph trying to not slide off the road.
That photo was taken in Grants New Mexico. Fun fact. Grants New Mexico gets an average of 7" of snowfall every year. The national average for snowfall in any city anywhere is 28". The day we were driving through Grants the National Weather service was saying they were going to get 6".
Driving Saturday was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life and Grants New Mexico wasn't the most difficult part of that day. At one point I decided to stop and get gas. Not because we needed it (we still had over half a tank), but because I wanted as much weight on the back end of the car as I could possibly get. It was brutal out there.
(This photo was taken near Gallup New Mexico. My
research says that snow is most likely to fall in January near Gallup, and then it is only a 29% chance based on history. It's also only a 1% chance inside that 29% chance that if it does in fact fall, it will be heavier than a dusting).
The last 15 miles to Amarillo Texas were the worst. Visibility was so low from the freezing rain that I couldn't see 3 dashed lines in front of me on the highway. Big Rigs were barreling past like they were headed to put out a Fire. When we finally got to the hotel we ate some soup we bought at the gas station down the way and going to sleep was probably the best feeling I could have ever imagined that night.
The trip was still a dream trip for me, but it had taken quite a different tone than intended. Instead of a fun lets stop and do things it was more a need to get from point A, to point B which really put my wife Shannon and I into a cranky mood. I wouldn't trade the trip with her for anything, but it was NOT off to a good start.
(Day 3 coming in next post later tonight)