Driving back to Drake after Thanksgiving break was interesting as I left home it was raining/snowing a nasty mess until about 100 miles outside of Chicago. I was fine with this mix of sleet because it was wet but not too heavy. After passing the Mississippi river about 1.5 hours later, it started to snow without the wet rain. I was still OK with this as the flakes were big but not sticking too much to the ground and traffic was minimal. Around Iowa City it was snowing more and the traffic got so backed up that I was standing still on an interstate, yes an interstate full of cars and no one was moving. Still bearable as I was on my phone with my cousin for about an hour trying to get my mind off of the delay.
The wind started to really pick up, really... it started to blow the whole world around. I gripped tighter onto the steering wheel as the car began to move with the wind. Road signs were shaking around and blowing in the snarly gusts. I had to really try to kept the car going straight in the interstate lanes. It was getting darker as it was getting later in the day and the snow was not letting up. The wind blew the snow around and formed a screen in front of the car. By this time I could not see more than about 200 feet in front of my car and could feel the ice begging to form on the road under the wheels. I only had about 60 or so miles left to Des Moines, but they were some of the most nerve racking miles.
Good place to remember that I HATE driving! (mostly due to an accident I had in high school)
I gripped the wheel tighter as my car began to slide around as the ground was freezing up and the wind strengthening. All the cars began to slow as everyone was experiencing the same lack of control. I was driving fast as I slowed to about 35-40mph on the interstate. Every 2 miles or so there was another car spun into a ditch or a cop helping a driver that hit a fence off the road. I gripped the wheel even more praying that I would not end up like one of those drivers. The car in front of me began to break, which was the worst thing to do on the icy road. I tried to break and the car began to fishtail but thank goodness no one was behind me for a mile or so. I still could not see in front of the car and was squeezing the leather out of the wheel as I gained control of the car. I was more nervous than ever evident by the fact that I could barely hold my bladder any longer...
But I made it...to the bathroom but more importantly to my apartment in one piece. I was so happy to just be off the road. While unpacking my car, I noticed though that my hands were all red and swollen and that the steering wheel was all misshapen from me hanging on for dear life.
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