Remember that big snowstorm a few weeks ago?
Well?
I have been looking for acreage to build a shop and house on in the mountains for about 6 months. We finally decided on a few different areas one of which is at the top of a mountain (Storm mountain) with a few switchbacks in the road. My wife being the smart one in the family decided that the next snowstorm we should drive up to each of them so we could see how long the commute would be and how the roads were maintained.
So?
With the snow falling and temps dropping we decided to head up and see how things looked. I already had a pretty good idea of what to expect since I grew up just a few miles from the property. Armed with the knowledge of that area and memories of tires chains and digging tires out of the snow I tried to talk my wife out of the little ?test? since we did not have chains or a shovel with us.
When we arrived at the turn off for Storm Mountain I pointed out that they had received at least a ft of snow and that people were putting on tire chains and that we should turn around as we were not properly prepared. I explained that we only get a snow fall like this a few times a year and it would not be a good example of the average winter commute.
Despite my reluctance and urging the wife decide that we should press on and even went as far as to Ask why we had the disco and a locker if we were not going to use it. At this point I figured that sometimes people need to learn a lesson the hard way and maybe after a little digging she would understand what I was trying to say.
Hmm?
At this point the Disco is doing great, we are going up the hill without any issues and everything seems to be going ok. We finally get to the area that we wanted to check out and start to turn around. It is now later in the day and things are starting to cool down a bit. Ever so carefully we make our way down the mountain going about 2 MPH and things seem to be going fine.
Then we get to the switchbacks. I start to slow down from our break neck pace of 2 MPH to a crawl (This is where things start to get ugly). The switchbacks have iced over and my tires start to slide. I ever so carefully feather the brakes trying to slow the disco down to no avail. Despite my efforts we are entering the turn at about 5 mph and I can no longer turn the wheels.
We make it through the first turn and survived despite picking up a little speed due to some fancy footwork on my behalf. As we come out of the first turn we start into the second turn still gathering speed despite my attempts to feather the brake pedal. Upon entering the second switchback I come to the reality that I have no control over the steering at this point and I am headed directly at the guard rail at about 5MPH. I decide that just maybe if I give it a little gas I can start the beast turning
Success?
I have started it turning and continue to feather the brakes but we are still on a trajectory to intercept the guardrail and we have picked up a little more speed.
BLAM?
Glass and plastic fly and I am finally able to bring the beast to a stop. As I get out to inspect the damage I look over and see the expression on my wife?s face. She is pale as a ghost and her eyes are starting to water so I assure her that we are going to be fine and that there are no more switchbacks. She then points out that we are at the steepest point of the road and although it is straight there is no guardrail.
At this point she gets out of the disco and states that she is walking down the hill behind me so that someone can call 911 if I go off the road. So I drive down solo and wait for her at the bottom.
So now I have a broken headlight, blinker, plastic thing under the headlight and a small dent in the fender.
Needless to say I do not think she will let me buy that property and we spent this Saturday looking at some 4 and 5-acre lots close to town at 3X the price
