Trip to Wisconsin

On Saturday, Oct 10th, I left Colorado Springs for Wisconsin, where I'll be taking care of some things for my mom. What I was not prepared for was the storm that dropped into Colorado on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Tough Day
Fortunately, I left at 7:00am. Unfortunately, I decided I'd go through Denver on I25 and catch I86 to Nebraska. Colorado Springs saw freezing drizzle and many accidents. South of where I got on I25 there was a 50 car pile up! In Monument, a road sign said that I25 was closed at Larkspur due to an accident. Not knowing when that was posted, I decided to push on. Sure enough, the highway was closed! I exited at Greenland Rd, a gravel road, and traveled to Colo 83 to head north again. Boy, I wish all the roads were like that gravel road. It was not slick at all (gravel has a tendency to do that, I guess). Colo 83 was slick and slow going, as was everything up to Castle Rock, where I got back on I25. Time: 8:00am.

I25 to and through Denver had open patches and very snowy patches. Some places the road was wide open and easy to travel at highway speeds. Others, the snow was falling heavy and the road covered and slippery. There were tons of cars on the sides of the road and rescue vehicles every where. I saw one car hit the highway divider on the southbound I25 side and knock a highway sign off the divider!

I86 out of Denver was the same. Some places snowing heavily, others clear and dry. Outside of Denver, everything was clear. Smooth sailing for awhile. At a bathroom break in Brush, I heard that the highway ahead was not as clear. Sure enough, more snow and snowpacked road. Funny thing was, the clear lane was the left lane! So, everyone was driving in the left lane (including semi-trailers), forcing people to pass on the right. This was a nerve-racking driving, to be sure. The road did its best to try and grab you and toss you around, even force you onto the shoulder.

The Rest of the Trip
Now the good part. At the Nebraska border, the road cleared up! The clouds lifted a bit and later even cleared. The rest of the trip was no problem with clear dry roads the rest of the way to Wisconsin. Yea!

More later...