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Back in Webster!
Jan. 2nd, 2007 11:39 amGalina was up before me yesterday morning, and we set about preparing to depart for Texas shortly after 8 am. I managed to stow the stuff I had been picking out along with all the stuff we had brought with us with little wasted space. Shortly after noon, the three of us (and Lily, Natalie's cat) rolled down the driveway.
Doing a tandem drive with three people is much easier, in my experience, than with two (which, in turn, is easier than driving by oneself, but I digress...), but an important factor to consider in driving around-the-clock are the conditions in areas where you'll be driving at night.
Obviously, visibility isn't as good in the dark, ceteris paribus, as during daylight. I have also noticed that at night, animals have a tendency to wander into and stay the middle of the road, not as afraid of approaching lights at night as they might be of an approaching massive object during the day.
And finally, particularly crucial for this trip, is the weather. Roads have a tendency to freeze at night, especially after they've been in the path of a snowstorm. Yesterday's primary objective leaving Colorado was to get clear of the aftermath of the big end-of-year storm in New Mexico, after which we could tandem our way behind the wheel to the Houston area.
Our roads were clear all the way down to Santa Fe, where we encountered our first packed snow (albeit intermittent) on the city streets. The pavement cleared again after Santa Fe, and remained clear down the short run of I-25 to Highway 285 and down 285 until about halfway to I-40 at Clines Corners. The road became increasingly snow-packed as we got closer to I-40, forcing us to go slower. (It took us 18 minutes to cover the last 6 miles of 285.)
I-40 eastbound was remarkably clear of snow (as was the westbound side, which, however, was backed up for at least 10 miles waiting for an accident to be cleared just past Clines Corners). Indeed, we experienced no snow at all on the road from Clines Corners to Webster. However, just as eastbound travelers did at Clines Corners, we experienced a major stop-and-go delay around Santa Rosa, so that our average speed after the first 8 hours of travel worked out to be about 35 miles per hour.
The cheapest gas during the trip was procured in Wichita Falls ($2.079 per gallon); the most expensive was bought in Pagosa Springs ($2.449 per gallon).
We pulled into our Webster driveway shortly before 10 am this morning. Poor Lily, who had refused to leave the car all through the trip (and who was forcibly removed from the car by Natalie once we arrived), celebrated our arrival by finally voiding her bladder just as soon as Natalie had moved her clear of the car (and, of course, while she was hugging the cat to her chest... ewww!). An idiosyncratic end to an interesting trip, methinks.
Now to attend to some general housekeeping, unpacking, etc. (and of course, finishing the translation due the day after tomorrow).
Cheers...
Doing a tandem drive with three people is much easier, in my experience, than with two (which, in turn, is easier than driving by oneself, but I digress...), but an important factor to consider in driving around-the-clock are the conditions in areas where you'll be driving at night.
Obviously, visibility isn't as good in the dark, ceteris paribus, as during daylight. I have also noticed that at night, animals have a tendency to wander into and stay the middle of the road, not as afraid of approaching lights at night as they might be of an approaching massive object during the day.
And finally, particularly crucial for this trip, is the weather. Roads have a tendency to freeze at night, especially after they've been in the path of a snowstorm. Yesterday's primary objective leaving Colorado was to get clear of the aftermath of the big end-of-year storm in New Mexico, after which we could tandem our way behind the wheel to the Houston area.
Our roads were clear all the way down to Santa Fe, where we encountered our first packed snow (albeit intermittent) on the city streets. The pavement cleared again after Santa Fe, and remained clear down the short run of I-25 to Highway 285 and down 285 until about halfway to I-40 at Clines Corners. The road became increasingly snow-packed as we got closer to I-40, forcing us to go slower. (It took us 18 minutes to cover the last 6 miles of 285.)
I-40 eastbound was remarkably clear of snow (as was the westbound side, which, however, was backed up for at least 10 miles waiting for an accident to be cleared just past Clines Corners). Indeed, we experienced no snow at all on the road from Clines Corners to Webster. However, just as eastbound travelers did at Clines Corners, we experienced a major stop-and-go delay around Santa Rosa, so that our average speed after the first 8 hours of travel worked out to be about 35 miles per hour.
The cheapest gas during the trip was procured in Wichita Falls ($2.079 per gallon); the most expensive was bought in Pagosa Springs ($2.449 per gallon).
We pulled into our Webster driveway shortly before 10 am this morning. Poor Lily, who had refused to leave the car all through the trip (and who was forcibly removed from the car by Natalie once we arrived), celebrated our arrival by finally voiding her bladder just as soon as Natalie had moved her clear of the car (and, of course, while she was hugging the cat to her chest... ewww!). An idiosyncratic end to an interesting trip, methinks.
Now to attend to some general housekeeping, unpacking, etc. (and of course, finishing the translation due the day after tomorrow).
Cheers...
