Week 5: Snow in North Carolina

January 30, 2010

Adventure is not about the goal, it is about having fun!

I woke up this morning to a few inches of snow, but I was still determined to make it to Hanging Rock State Park. I watched the weather for a bit and headed out around 7AM. The roads were plowed although snow and sleet covered. Not too many were on the road at this hour of Saturday morning which is what I was aiming for. Travel was slow. I decided to shop at Sheetz to use the facilities. I exited and pulled up to the stop light. I tried to pull out, but I was spinning. My dash board lit up like the 4th of July fireworks. The brake light, ABS light, and the traction control light came on; they didn’t go out. I got going and pulled into Sheetz; the lights were still on. I broke my car! I did my business at Sheetz and came out hoping that I would start my car and everything would be back to normal. Nope! I pull out the car manual and read about how serious it is to have all of these lights on. I check the brake fluid. It’s fine. I get back in the car pull out of Sheetz and my car magically fixes itself.

Back on the highway, I witness two accidents. 1) A Jeep spun out and almost got clipped by a tracker trailer. 2) A truck that flew past me spun out and slammed into the retaining wall. 4-wheel drive does not make you invincible people. I get off of the main highway and head north through Kernersville. I arrive NEAR Hanging Rock State Park and discover that the Beetle is NOT 4-wheel drive. There is roughly 10 inches of snow on the unplowed road. I start to drive around the park and think there might be a sneaky way in. Wrong! I review my map; I am miles from the edge of the park and I can’t hike 20 miles in one day. No hiking today. Well, it has still been an adventure thus far, so I look for a different way home.

I found some nice scenery along the way. Old barns in white blanketed fields, snow covered church steeples, and lots of SUVs and cars in the ditch. I came across a magnificent mill along the way back which made the whole trip completely worth it. I stopped in the middle road and snapped a few pictures. The rest of the trip back was uneventful except for several convoys I saw. NC DOT was out in swarms. I saw 3 instances of snow plowing operations each containing 6 to 8 graders and 4 to 6 plow trucks. It was a fascinating thing to see. Traffic is slowed by a pacer truck and then the equipment attacks the road ahead. Thank goodness I never got behind a convoy. Wasn’t there a bad ‘70’s song about a convoy running from the fuzz?

I arrived home safely by 4 PM and shoveled the walk and driveway. I’m the only one in my neighborhood with a clear driveway. Are they lazy or do they not own shovels? To end the day, I made a lovely snow angle. Driving in snow was not nearly as tough as a five dollar steak. How’s that for a redneck saying I heard today?