My first 'bad weather' drive in Wyoming

Last week, Doug drove the girls and I in for their doctor's appointments b/c the roads were 'orange' due to slick conditions and blowing snow.  As we drove, I made the comment that I would eventually need to learn to drive in this stuff.  I am from Ashtabula, after all.  It's not like I've NEVER driven in snow before.  LOL!

Little did I know that the time to learn and be courageous was coming..... SOON!

Sunday night as we made plans for wake-up times, Doug and I both checked weather reports and road conditions as we knew I'd be taking Jacob to Cheyenne over I80 in the morning.  The pass between Laramie and Cheyenne often closes when it snows because it's one of the steepest inclines on a highway in the US.  Fun stuff, I tell ya.

Snow was expected.  Out here, one can never really predict when it will ACTUALLY hit or how much will REALLY end up falling.

With a winter storm watch being elevated to a warning, I decided to wake early to  ensure we got off on time and had plenty of 'flex' in our schedule.  There was a chance I'd have to take a different route that would add close to an hour to our drive.

5 am arrived.

I rolled out of bed and turned on the computer.

It had snowed all night long and the road conditions were 'orange' due to slick roads and limited visibility.  I wasn't a fan of such words.

Bravely, however, I made the decision to venture out.  Granted, we did leave at 6:10 for a 9:30 testing appointment.  (Last time we made this trek it only took us an hour and a half.)  Glad we left when we did as we arrived just shy of 9am.

The roads were in fact snow covered and slick.  Visibility - quite limited.  However, 4-wheel drive, slow speed limits and an occasional verbal panic attack, allowed us to make it just fine.

I've discovered I have another love-hate relationship. This one is with the anti-lock brakes on our Toyota Tacoma pick-up truck.  Funny thing, even though it may seem smooth sailing as you drive along a  highway using your 4 wheel drive, it becomes a bit more dicey as you attempt to slow or stop. The number of times those anti-lock brakes kept me from fish-tailing, skidding, slipping, and sliding were countless.

I'm quite grateful for anti-lock brakes, even if they do wig me out every time they 'push back' against my efforts to stop my vehicle. :-)

I can now proudly say I survived my first driving attempt in 'bad Wyoming weather'.  It wasn't nearly as traumatic as I'd feared.  Jacob may have a different perspective since he was privy to my mini semi-truck-passing induced panic attacks.

The little truck that could.  This pick-up truck was masterful at
driving on the snow covered, wind blown roads of Wyoming.