Funny thing about snow, it's silent. If it had been raining all night, I would have known because of the pitter patter on my windows. But the snow didn't make a sound. It was quite the delightful surprise.
I called work to let them know I would be late since I had to dig my car out of the snow. Plus, I'd never driven in snow before. I knew I would need the extra time. After brushing the snow off my car and defrosting the windows, I set out on my first snow drive. Everything they warn you about happened to me on this less than five mile drive!
The land was covered in snow, but the road was covered in ice, completely. As I was pulling out of my apartment parking lot, I tried to stop, but when I pressed the breaks, my car kept rolling! It was a horrible feeling of panic as there were cars coming down the road toward me! I pushed the breaks again and stopped. However, after the cars passed, I discovered that I was stuck! I pushed on the gas, but my tires just spun in place. Scary when your break pedal doesn't make you stop and your gas pedal doesn't make you go! A man in a truck behind me help me back my car up for a successful drive out of the parking lot. He told me "now, once you get out there, just don't stop." Okay...what about stop lights?
I drove about 8 miles an hour to work, along with every other car on the road. I of course knew that you need to break longer in order to stop on ice. I discovered quickly that any normal about of pressure on the gas pedal from a stop will make you skid out. Also, and gas or break during a turn will make you skid, swerve, and fishtail. Yikes!
It was quite the adventure: not being able to stop, not being able to go, skidding, swerving, and panic. I didn't crash. Didn't even come close, thank goodness. But I did get a "crash" course in driving in ice. I learned a lot in those 25 mintues to work. I was a much more skilled driver the next day. ;)
my car
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