Last Friday: The Plan
Work in the morning and leave Carolina between 12 and 1.
Arrive in W. Michigan around 1 to 2 AM.
What actually happened:
I jeft right on schedule knowing about a winter storm headed into the area. I also knew that it wasn't going to be a standard southern winter storm. With this in mind I started the roadtrip at around 12:45 thinking it would be enough time to get through Virginia and W. Virginia before the worst of the storm.....but complications set it. Early in the storm several big rigs had major problems on 77N near Wytheville, VA closing down the highway. I was told this happened at three or four oclock. I arrived at the backup around 5:00. And waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. I didn't move for three hours. Eventually myself and several others determined that highway 81 was accessible up to the first exit (81 was also closed) and made our way into Wytheville, VA where many got hotel rooms, stayed at gas stations, and in their cars. I briefly considered the hotel option but a desire to get to Michigan and the lack of any available rooms (thanks to my parents who searched all the hotel rooms online) led me to attempt to skip the 77 backup via highway 52. I knew this could be an interesting decision since the storm was now and had been at full force for a few hours, and highway 52 is a road that cuts over the mountain. 52N out of Wythville ended up being plowed pretty good but I made things more interesting when I decided to take 717 (an even more backwoods highway) as a shortcut to get back to 77. I was doing fine on the unplowed road until I caught up with other travelers with the same idea as me. One of which was stuck and receiving from another couple. I pulled the shoval out of my car (yes I keep a shovel in my car) and started digging her out, and we successfully got her back on the road. She immediately........got stuck again. We dug her out again.....and she slid off the road again. By this time I realized I found a bad snow driver. To make things more interesting two other cars pulled up and helped as well. At first it made things easier, I led the group and they pushed but included in the group was another bad snow driver who got his car stuck too. And wanted our help too. We pushed him out, and he got stuck again. I was annoyed, thankgoodness a couple trucks had passed us making a nice two track that I was able to use to get by the bad drivers. I did feel kinda bad but I knew we were making no progress and I had been there for an hour, I did more than enough. Once past them I had no problem making to 77 and was home free! WRONG! I reached the second backup at Bluefield, WV at around midnight with no options. I was stuck on the highway, not moving once, for FOUR hours! I slept for about two hours but eventually walked around and found a spot where trucks had used to get to the other side of the highway. There was no way my car would make it but I grabbed my shovel and dug out a two track to 77S and got onto 77S where I took the next exit. I attempted to get gas at the first gas station that was open on 52N but they, unfortunately, were out. Getting out of the parking lot was interesting. It hadn't been plowed and I couldn't use my entrance point so I had to dig a path and plow through it. Unfortunately I overheated in the process. No worries though, when I got to the top of the mountain I sat for 15 minutes and put more coolant in the reservoir. Then I started down the unplowed mountain road, during a winter storm, in a car. Thank goodness trucks had gone before me. I managed to get down the mountain pretty well with the exception in one spot in which the two-track was somehow too small (maybe due to how the previous trucks moved the snow) and I had to dig to get my car through that very small section. All-in-All it only took' me thirty minutes to get to Bluefield. I was then able to take 460 to Princeton, grab some breakfast, and get on 77. I had to wait till about 8 AM and most were warning not to drive but I ignored the warning and got out of dodge. It is a good thing I did too, because it seemed like the backup was two hours behind me. 77N closed again around 10, and the West Virginia Turnpike closed at around 12. I was long gone. The funny part is, while in Bluefield, I asked a few people what the best way, besides 77, was to get north. They all said, wait till 77 is open and added, "Whatever you do don't take 52 over the mountain." Ummm already did......
An interesting addition to this long crazy story:
In the first backup I asked God to pick up my car and put me in W. Michigan. I then made it more reasonable and said, "Actually I'd be happy to get ahead of this pack of cars." I beat most of them to the next backup and was one of the first to make it to Princeton, WV. I also stayed ahead of the pack once through the backups. God also eventually put me right in W. Michigan. Don't we have an awesome God!
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