Winter Driving

I just spent the last three days on various interstate highways in the western half of the United States. I-5, I-84, I-80, I-29, I-435. For a while I-84 and I-15 were the same road, but I'm not sure that I will really count driving on I-15... This post will basically be the highlights of my trip - highlights or just random events that have stuck in my head.

• After putting on chains in the snowy dark on the way to Black Butte a couple of years ago and again at some other point in time, this daylight chain-up was pretty simple.  All went well.  I was glad I had them, as I-84 in northern Oregon was covered in snow.  Well, covered for a while, at least.  Then I was debating about whether to pull over to take them off due to a sudden drop in snow level on the road, when one of the chains made the decision for me.  It came off somehow, so I pulled over to remove the remaining chain.  Because I was unsure whether we would hit more snowy roads where I would wish I had chains again, we stopped in Pendleton, Ore. to buy new ones.  Of course, the Les Schwab and the auto parts store were both sold out of my tire size.  So on to LeGrande.  Fortunately the Les Schwab there had my size.  We purchased new chains, but then returned to the store to see if they could recycle the chain we had left from the old set.  Turns out that Les Schwab chains are guaranteed for life, and since the old ones were Les Schwab (although ancient and not actually purchased by me in the first place), they gave us a full refund on the set we had just purchased.  And - I didn't have to use them again.
• Once we hit Idaho, the roads were completely clear.  No ice.  No snow.  Same thing through Utah and Wyoming. Well, as far as the roads are concerned.  The stretch of I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne is approximately 40 miles, and I spent most of it traveling at 25 miles per hour.  But the road was no slick...  Instead, the 45+ mph winds were blowing the powdery snow that was along the edge of the road - so much so that I had no visibility.  Nor did anyone else.  Everyone was driving with hazard lights on, as the only way to see another car was if their lights were flashing.  I followed the curves of the road, not by seeing the lines on the road or even the mile-marker posts, but rather by listening for the groove in the pavement on the right side that tell you when you are going off-road.  I basically drove along those grooves until I found a semi-truck whose lights I could follow.  I think every muscle in my body was tense - much more so than driving on the snow and ice in Oregon.
• Speaking of tense muscles. I hold all of my tension in my shoulders and back.  I had a full-body hour massage on Tuesday before I left Oregon.  That was probably a mistake.  I should have saved it and gotten it this week, as my muscles took a beating over the last few days.
• Suncor Energy in Cheyenne, Wyo. smells like burning trash.  It was perhaps the most disgusting smell I have smelled in a long time. (I really wanted to write smelt instead of smelled...)  I just tried Googling Suncor Energy Cheyenne smell, and nothing really came up.  I'm surprised more people haven't written about or discussed the stench that that place is creating. It made me cry.  And I was driving.  So really, it is sort of dangerous.
• Wyoming in general seemed like a pretty pointless state.  Except there was an amazing grouping of wind energy windmills under construction.  They were so awesome. We would have missed them except that they decided to shut down I-80 from this one random city up until Laramie, so we had to take a bypass instead.
• Nebraska is also a pretty pointless state, but roads were clear and skies were sunny for the entire drive across the state, so I sort of don't care what else is in the state.  Also, we drove through downtown Lincoln, where my parents lived for one semester when my dad went to the University of Nebraska.  I had never been there before, so it was kinda nice to hear stories from my mom.
• Ava had her first hotel experience.  She was pretty good, but got scared when the hotel staff slid the receipts under the door.  I mean, really, if you had no idea about hotel receipts, you'd probably be scared too...