In which getting home is an adventure
Yes, it was an adventure-filled travel weekend. I ended up spending two extra nights in Albuquerque and drove home on Sunday.
See, it snowed. In Albuquerque. A lot. Which seems to be rather unusual in Albuquerque. The city is completely, thouroughly, and absolutely unprepared for snow. To own a snow shovel seems to be as necessary as a fish owning a bicycle. If they can't clear off the sidewalks and plow the streets, it should come as no surprise that they can't get snow off airport runways, either.
My 5:45 flight on Friday turned out to be cancelled. I rebooked for the 11:30a Sat. flight. That only meant that I was in line in sufficient time Saturday morning to get a #4 standby position for the 3:35 flight, which was cancelled before noon. Although the 5:45 flight had not yet been cancelled, Frontier staff advised me that it was very unlikely to go, and that the next available booking was Monday. It was a good thing that I had retained my hotel room.
I had Chris book me a car for Sunday (I didn't have Internet connectivity at the airport) and I returned to my hotel room. Dinner was at the Elephant Bar, since that was the only open restaurant within walking distance. (Interestingly, the ABQ shopping area did get the memo about clearing sidewalks and they tried to keep up on the streets too, but I guess they were overwhelmed and gave it up after a valiant effort.) Becky and Bob kindly gave me a lift to the airport to pick up the car on Sunday morning and although reports were that I-25 remained closed, (and the fog was formidable until the top of La Bajada) as I proceeded northward, the highway wasn't actually blocked until Las Vegas.
My reasoning was that Raton Pass would be most passable between mid morning and sundown at 4:30. My strategy was to get as close to the Pass as I could, and so to be positioned favorably when the highway did open up. After lunch and fueling in Las Vegas, I lined up with the other 2 miles or so of vehicles. The authorities weren't requiring vehicles to exit, and so I felt pretty sure that the intent was to open the highway fairly soon. I passed the blockade at 3:00.
The mad dash north was rather amusing. I am certain that everyone in that line was thinking about the shady, winding ascent and descent just like I was, and that the sun was going down in just an hour and a half. After sitting in that line for what I suppose was 2 hours or longer, the first rest area was mobbed. People did make just the briefest of stops, and were underway again.
The pass was about as good as could be expected, wet or snowpacked all the way up or down. The highway was single-lane in spots. There was one small pickup that had spun out just above the city of Raton. Traffic proceeded at about 20 mph below the posted speed limit. I breathed a sigh of relief at Starkville; the highway was clear, and smooth sailing was ahead.
See, I figure that if road conditions are going to be bad on I-25 in that area, the worst will be Raton Pass. So I was surprised that conditions at Trinidad were suddenly worse than the Pass, and that those terrible conditions persisted for the next 60 miles. I drove about 40 mph on completely snowpacked roads. The sun was down, and so whatever melting had taken place had re-frozen. Curiously, I saw only one snowplow north of Trinidad.
Walsenberg to Pueblo featured dry pavement punctuated by long icy patches, so driving the speed limit was unwise.
Conditions between Pueblo and Denver were normal, and so I finally made some headway, arriving home at 8:30. Tired and more than just a little out of patience, I crawled into bed, appreciative to be home, but also reveling in getting to sleep on good pillows for the first time in 5 nights.
I suppose this weekend would have been less tiresome, had I not had very nearly the same adventure the weekend before. Although the location of the snowstorm had shifted to an airport 450 miles south, the fact that both of those airports, in turn, were closed by storms complicated travel two weekends in a row. Which is about one weekend too many.
The one bright spot was that the Denver snowstorm (pictures on Chris' blog) started on a Wednesday, which meant that by Friday the highway was open; although I could not book a flight, I could drive home. By the time I left the station on Friday, I had heard from Greg and Kristen that I-70 was open, and that they would likely beat me to Denver. They had planned to come on Thursday, but with the highway closure, they had to wait a day to head west for Christmas, due the the same storm.
On Friday, Mother had relieved nurses who had been at the hospital since Wednesday, and she too was finding the driving difficult - even though her drive was just across Denver. It looked like a convergence was in order; all four of us would arrive late Friday evening. Dad and Evan were safely at home. I was coordinating with Chris, telling him when to expect the masses to descend upon the house.
Everything on my end went according to plan (plan B, that is) until I had to stop in Castle Rock for gas. I just couldn't make it home. Although the highway was in good condition (the ramps not so much) the city's streets were a mess. The snow volume was so great that they'd simply plowed narrow lanes out of the streets, with high snow berms on either side. If I had not known the gas station for which I'd headed, I would not have found it. I think everyone else must have headed for the same gas station, since they were gas-less. After the challenge of getting into the gas station, I wasn't keen on trying to get into another. The effort was worth it; they had gas. But half an hour was lost, and it was 10:30 before I got home.
I recall, after getting an update from Greg somewhere between Las Vegas and Raton, a feeling of supreme satisfaction at getting us all together for Christmas. Not only would we get the rare treat of Greg and Kristen, but the extended "family" of friends were due for our traditional Christmas Eve stocking and tummy stuffing. All the challenges at coordinating, decorating, and traveling in my abbreviated holiday season were not just "worth it", but a fair price to pay for the joy of the season.
See, it snowed. In Albuquerque. A lot. Which seems to be rather unusual in Albuquerque. The city is completely, thouroughly, and absolutely unprepared for snow. To own a snow shovel seems to be as necessary as a fish owning a bicycle. If they can't clear off the sidewalks and plow the streets, it should come as no surprise that they can't get snow off airport runways, either.
My 5:45 flight on Friday turned out to be cancelled. I rebooked for the 11:30a Sat. flight. That only meant that I was in line in sufficient time Saturday morning to get a #4 standby position for the 3:35 flight, which was cancelled before noon. Although the 5:45 flight had not yet been cancelled, Frontier staff advised me that it was very unlikely to go, and that the next available booking was Monday. It was a good thing that I had retained my hotel room.
I had Chris book me a car for Sunday (I didn't have Internet connectivity at the airport) and I returned to my hotel room. Dinner was at the Elephant Bar, since that was the only open restaurant within walking distance. (Interestingly, the ABQ shopping area did get the memo about clearing sidewalks and they tried to keep up on the streets too, but I guess they were overwhelmed and gave it up after a valiant effort.) Becky and Bob kindly gave me a lift to the airport to pick up the car on Sunday morning and although reports were that I-25 remained closed, (and the fog was formidable until the top of La Bajada) as I proceeded northward, the highway wasn't actually blocked until Las Vegas.
My reasoning was that Raton Pass would be most passable between mid morning and sundown at 4:30. My strategy was to get as close to the Pass as I could, and so to be positioned favorably when the highway did open up. After lunch and fueling in Las Vegas, I lined up with the other 2 miles or so of vehicles. The authorities weren't requiring vehicles to exit, and so I felt pretty sure that the intent was to open the highway fairly soon. I passed the blockade at 3:00.
The mad dash north was rather amusing. I am certain that everyone in that line was thinking about the shady, winding ascent and descent just like I was, and that the sun was going down in just an hour and a half. After sitting in that line for what I suppose was 2 hours or longer, the first rest area was mobbed. People did make just the briefest of stops, and were underway again.
The pass was about as good as could be expected, wet or snowpacked all the way up or down. The highway was single-lane in spots. There was one small pickup that had spun out just above the city of Raton. Traffic proceeded at about 20 mph below the posted speed limit. I breathed a sigh of relief at Starkville; the highway was clear, and smooth sailing was ahead.
See, I figure that if road conditions are going to be bad on I-25 in that area, the worst will be Raton Pass. So I was surprised that conditions at Trinidad were suddenly worse than the Pass, and that those terrible conditions persisted for the next 60 miles. I drove about 40 mph on completely snowpacked roads. The sun was down, and so whatever melting had taken place had re-frozen. Curiously, I saw only one snowplow north of Trinidad.
Walsenberg to Pueblo featured dry pavement punctuated by long icy patches, so driving the speed limit was unwise.
Conditions between Pueblo and Denver were normal, and so I finally made some headway, arriving home at 8:30. Tired and more than just a little out of patience, I crawled into bed, appreciative to be home, but also reveling in getting to sleep on good pillows for the first time in 5 nights.
I suppose this weekend would have been less tiresome, had I not had very nearly the same adventure the weekend before. Although the location of the snowstorm had shifted to an airport 450 miles south, the fact that both of those airports, in turn, were closed by storms complicated travel two weekends in a row. Which is about one weekend too many.
The one bright spot was that the Denver snowstorm (pictures on Chris' blog) started on a Wednesday, which meant that by Friday the highway was open; although I could not book a flight, I could drive home. By the time I left the station on Friday, I had heard from Greg and Kristen that I-70 was open, and that they would likely beat me to Denver. They had planned to come on Thursday, but with the highway closure, they had to wait a day to head west for Christmas, due the the same storm.
On Friday, Mother had relieved nurses who had been at the hospital since Wednesday, and she too was finding the driving difficult - even though her drive was just across Denver. It looked like a convergence was in order; all four of us would arrive late Friday evening. Dad and Evan were safely at home. I was coordinating with Chris, telling him when to expect the masses to descend upon the house.
Everything on my end went according to plan (plan B, that is) until I had to stop in Castle Rock for gas. I just couldn't make it home. Although the highway was in good condition (the ramps not so much) the city's streets were a mess. The snow volume was so great that they'd simply plowed narrow lanes out of the streets, with high snow berms on either side. If I had not known the gas station for which I'd headed, I would not have found it. I think everyone else must have headed for the same gas station, since they were gas-less. After the challenge of getting into the gas station, I wasn't keen on trying to get into another. The effort was worth it; they had gas. But half an hour was lost, and it was 10:30 before I got home.
I recall, after getting an update from Greg somewhere between Las Vegas and Raton, a feeling of supreme satisfaction at getting us all together for Christmas. Not only would we get the rare treat of Greg and Kristen, but the extended "family" of friends were due for our traditional Christmas Eve stocking and tummy stuffing. All the challenges at coordinating, decorating, and traveling in my abbreviated holiday season were not just "worth it", but a fair price to pay for the joy of the season.
posted by Melanie Unruh-Bays at
9:19 AM
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