*NOTE: Five years ago I began a journey across the country with Thiel, a dear friend of mine. I was moving from Chicago to Long Beach, California, and she agreed to make the drive with me. I present my journal of that journey on the corresponding day that it was recorded five years ago. Enjoy reliving this adventure with me!
Day 3: January 5, 2014
Having slept in after the night out in Springfield, we got a late start to the day, but we also weren’t terribly eager to go outside. There was a big snowstorm happening. It started overnight and dumped on us all day long. We checked out of the motel and set out on snowy streets. Nothing was open for us to get any food; every restaurant we passed was closed. The streets had been cleared but the snow plows were unable to keep up with the volume of snowfall. Thankfully we have a four-wheel-drive SUV for this trip and it did very well.
We drove in these conditions all day.
As we left the city and entered rural America once again on the old road I was concerned that we would get stuck out there somewhere. It was a very tense day of driving. We stopped at an IGA grocery store in a small town along the way, as every single town was shut down and no restaurants were open. We bought some snack food so that we’d at least have something to eat.
The IGA parking lot.
The road winds through side streets and open fields, and the snow didn’t relent even once. The wind also grew stronger throughout the day, and on the open plains it was blowing over the road with such ferocity that we would find ourselves suddenly plunged into whiteout conditions. I had to brake almost to stopping until there was a lull in the wind and then continue on, praying that we were still on the roadway. I also looked forward to portions of the road where there were remnants of cornfields or clumps of trees, as those seemed to provide a barrier from the snow being blown onto the road from the fields beside us. There was one time that, as the wind died down and visibility increased, I was about to drive off the side of the road over a small embankment. There were long stretches of the drive in which neither of us spoke; we just focused on the ridiculousness happening before us through the windshield. Several times we passed cars that were stuck or had slid off the road. Each time we stopped and asked if the people inside (if they were still there) were OK and if they had called for help. Each time they said yes so we trundled onward, hoping that we didn’t end up in the same situation.
There were spots in which I had to visually hunt for a piece of exposed pavement just to make sure which way the road went. I have been very thankful that there aren’t many curves in the road yet. For several miles Route 66 runs directly alongside I-55 and that highway was in really bad shape as well. There were long stretches along which cars were at a standstill. I saw one person get out of his car and walk up to the car in front of him. It looked to be down to one lane that was clear enough for everyone to drive on, so I didn’t feel that we were in much worse shape for not being on the main road.
The snow was drifting across the road most of the day; the car would make it through them without much incident, but in one particularly rural area there was a long section of the road that was covered in about a foot of snow. We plunged into it and came to a stop. It took me about five minutes of maneuvering to get us out of it; I really thought we were going to be stuck and would have to try to get help, but luckily we made it through. Many times I was driving on the wrong side of the road, because the wind was blowing from the west side and the drifts were mostly covering that side of the road. I have never had to drive through such conditions and I don’t ever want to do so again. As the day wore on we decided that we needed to start looking for a place to spend the night, before it got dark so we wouldn’t have the added challenge of navigating such a mess without the aid of daylight, and let the storm end. As our average speed the whole day was 25 miles per hour, we only managed to travel 65 miles in six hours. There was one bright spot: The road suddenly changed to brick for about half a mile in one rural stretch. It wasn’t yellow, alas.
The Brown Brick Road.
Henry’s Rabbit Ranch: Hare it is! Staunton, IL.
Henry’s Rabbit Ranch, Staunton, IL. Yes, those are Volkswagen Rabbits.
Humpin’ to please at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch, Staunton, IL.
Trying to make it to one last town before looking for a motel for the night, we approached a section of road that had what was probably the worst visibility of the entire day. Suddenly everything went white. I braked, and just as I could barely see again I realized that there was a car stopped about 10 feet in front of us. I stopped. He seemed to be stuck, but the wind was fierce and the snow was blasting across so I wasn’t about to get out to go talk to him. He tried to maneuver out of my way, but it was impassable. He got out and came back to us to tell us that we were welcome to try to go around him, but there was another car in front of him off in the ditch. We decided to turn around and return to the very small town we’d just passed through and hope there was somewhere to stay. We made it back and stopped in a Shell station by the interstate to ask. I went inside and approached the clerk.
“Is there anywhere around here to spend the night?” I said.
“If you’re desperate,” she replied.
“We are.”
She made a call and verified that there were rooms available, so we ended up at the Innkeeper Motel in Hamel, Illinois. She made it sound disagreeable, but it was nice and clean. The heater was nothing like the one we had the previous night, alas, as it was much colder than it’s been so far, but we made do. Thiel remained in her bed the entire night rather than the tub. The storm ended but snow continued to blow, so it seemed as if it was still snowing for a while. Now we’re done with the snow but facing below zero temperatures for the next leg of the journey.
Ahhhhh…and that my friend is winter driving in Illinois. Total white out conditions and massive snow drifts. I once spent Christmas Eve and day stranded on I-65 in a rest station with my mom and sister.
Oh wow! That sounds decidedly unfun.