Why is it so windy in New Mexico?

I made it home ok. We left New York last Friday night after having dinner with my grandparents at the Essex House. We drove about 4 hours into Pennsylvania so we would be able to get to Terre Haute by the next night.

When we got there, I stopped by the house to get Vince and Wojo for dinner at Exotic Thai. After dinner I returned to the house to hang out in my old room and catch up with people.

Sunday morning we got up and started driving again. We were making great time, so we figured we might as well push it and try to make it to Albuquerque that day. That was, until we got to Texas. We came up on a semi that had just jacknifed across both lanes, completely blocking westbound traffic. My dad hopped out to see if we could get around, and promptly slipped and almost fell over. The road was completely covered in ice, and was so slick he had trouble walking. Fortunately, the Pontiac Torrent we rented had All Wheel Drive, so we were able to get around on the median, only one other car followed us. The rest of Texas was covered in ice, which siginificantly slowed our progress. Recognizing that we wouldn't be able to make it home, we stopped for the night in Amarillo, Texas.

That morning we got up, had breakfast, and then set out again. We were just leaving the parking lot when we saw a guy sitting in a Camero that was in a rather peculiar position. The back left wheel was up on the sidewalk, while the front left wheel was between the curb and a parking bumper. Apparently he was trying to get out of the parking lot, but hit the gas a little to hard, losing traction and sliding down the slight incline to his current position. We hopped out, gave him a push and a little direction, and got his car off the sidewalk. Five minutes later we saw him finally get his car out of the lot.

The rest of the way through Texas was pretty slow and very slick. On the way we saw a number of overturned semis, cars and trucks, and plenty of skid marks in the median where slightly more fortunate people had just slid off the raod.

We finally got to New Mexico, seeing the last accident just meters before the state line. A half hour into our home state, the clouds had cleared, the road was try, and the temperature had climbed from 24 degrees to 54 degrees. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing. We got home around 1, unpacked, picked up my dad's car from the shop, and dropped off the rental at the airport.

Posted December 23, 2005 - One Comment