Post by Mac78 on Feb 16, 2015 15:54:14 GMT -8
I wanted to share with you my crazy and scary weekend here in NW Ohio. On Friday afternoon I went to my daughter Ashleys's which is about 55 miles away, and stayed the night. The weather had called for 1 to 2 inches of snow on Saturday, with blowing and drifting snow. No problem....or it should not had been, as I have lived in NW Ohio all my life and driven in all kinds of snow going back and forth to work. I would be on a main highway that is highly traveled and knew the state would be out keeping it cleaned if need be.
I left Ashley's apartment about 11:15 on Saturday morning. Once I got out of the city limits, the conditions still seemed okay. Once I got out into the open areas....OH MY!!!!!, it was total whiteout conditions. 0 visibility. I was driving and I could not see. The roads were blowing and drifting. The whiteouts were continuous. I was in total panic. There was no way to pull over, no way to turn around. I kept my eyes to the telephone poles on the right, tried to see a patch of road here and there. Prayed that if anyone coming towards me sees me. I had my emergency flashers on. I crept on, literally driving for 30 to 45 seconds at a time in whiteout conditions. I don't know how I did that. I kept thinking, if I make it to Napoleon I will get a hotel. That was about 25 miles down the road.....I could not do it.....I thought just get me to McClure, about 12 miles, a little burg along the highway with a carryout/gas station and a couple bars.
I made it to McClure. I pulled into the carryout and had a nice cry. I had never in all my life drove in conditions like that. I went inside and asked if there was a fire department where I might be able to hang out because I could not go any farther. Another gentleman came into the carryout and said he too had to stop, that he had not drove in conditions that bad before. Some other people came in and said there was a 8 car pileup 5 miles down the road.....the road I just traveled on. I walked over to the fire department and asked if me and the gentleman could sit in the fire department because we could not go on. Because it was a volunteer only department, they said no. There was a lady paramedic and she invited us to their house. The gentleman and I went and got something to eat and one of the 2 bars, then we went to the ladies home. The gentleman ended up driving on, he was only 12 miles from his destination. Me, I stayed all night because I had about 38 miles to go. The windchills were about -35 and I did not want to be on those roads after dark.
I had never been in this situation before. I was scared, and of all places to get stuck, a little burg with no hotel. The ladies I stayed with were so welcoming and kind. They fed me supper too! They are like this is not the first time we have taken people in. God was watching out for me that day.
There were numerous head ons on Saturday due to the whiteout conditions. There was another 8 car pileup outside my hometown of Bryan. I heard several people say that these terrible driving conditions were not predicted, we were all blindsided. My daughter asked me why I didn't turn around. I told her because I was afraid I would get stuck if I pulled into a drive, I could not see, and it was not safe to back out onto the highway.....it was like there was no alternative but to go forward until I got to a place to pull over. And that was my weekend. Stay warm everyone.....it is currently 8 degrees here in NW Ohio.
I left Ashley's apartment about 11:15 on Saturday morning. Once I got out of the city limits, the conditions still seemed okay. Once I got out into the open areas....OH MY!!!!!, it was total whiteout conditions. 0 visibility. I was driving and I could not see. The roads were blowing and drifting. The whiteouts were continuous. I was in total panic. There was no way to pull over, no way to turn around. I kept my eyes to the telephone poles on the right, tried to see a patch of road here and there. Prayed that if anyone coming towards me sees me. I had my emergency flashers on. I crept on, literally driving for 30 to 45 seconds at a time in whiteout conditions. I don't know how I did that. I kept thinking, if I make it to Napoleon I will get a hotel. That was about 25 miles down the road.....I could not do it.....I thought just get me to McClure, about 12 miles, a little burg along the highway with a carryout/gas station and a couple bars.
I made it to McClure. I pulled into the carryout and had a nice cry. I had never in all my life drove in conditions like that. I went inside and asked if there was a fire department where I might be able to hang out because I could not go any farther. Another gentleman came into the carryout and said he too had to stop, that he had not drove in conditions that bad before. Some other people came in and said there was a 8 car pileup 5 miles down the road.....the road I just traveled on. I walked over to the fire department and asked if me and the gentleman could sit in the fire department because we could not go on. Because it was a volunteer only department, they said no. There was a lady paramedic and she invited us to their house. The gentleman and I went and got something to eat and one of the 2 bars, then we went to the ladies home. The gentleman ended up driving on, he was only 12 miles from his destination. Me, I stayed all night because I had about 38 miles to go. The windchills were about -35 and I did not want to be on those roads after dark.
I had never been in this situation before. I was scared, and of all places to get stuck, a little burg with no hotel. The ladies I stayed with were so welcoming and kind. They fed me supper too! They are like this is not the first time we have taken people in. God was watching out for me that day.
There were numerous head ons on Saturday due to the whiteout conditions. There was another 8 car pileup outside my hometown of Bryan. I heard several people say that these terrible driving conditions were not predicted, we were all blindsided. My daughter asked me why I didn't turn around. I told her because I was afraid I would get stuck if I pulled into a drive, I could not see, and it was not safe to back out onto the highway.....it was like there was no alternative but to go forward until I got to a place to pull over. And that was my weekend. Stay warm everyone.....it is currently 8 degrees here in NW Ohio.