It's snowing

[SHATOUSHKA]

about 5 years

[gnosis_within]

yesterday the managers at marketplace were determined to keep the store open, so i had to go to work. when i was attempting to leave, my car got stuck in the street...i mean, it just wouldn't move. so i called work to tell them the problem, but rather than saying "don't bother coming in" they sent someone to come get me. the guy helped me get my car back into my parking spot then drove me to work. in the hour and a half that i was there, only four tables came in. they sent all but three servers home, most of us never even got a table. i have to go in this morning too.... [img]mad.gif[/img]

[GravyTrain]

well, i went into work thursday morning, simply because i live literally just around the corner (well, not completely around the corner), but just right down the road from my office. besides, i wasn't having any problem handling the icy roads.

so anyways, my wife has been in florida for the last week, and she was supposed to be back home wednesday evening. Unfortuately, her flight got delayed out of florida/into atlanta, and therefore missed her connection to little rock, she got stranded in atlanta, but it was because of atlanta weather, not little rock. so she finally got on a flight to arrive in little rock at 12:30 on thursday. she called at 10:30 our time that she would be at our airport at 12:30, i left then, because i had heard that the traffic was real bad....

i got on the interstate at 10:30, just after we got off the phone, i was cruising at about 45 miles an hour (the interstates were a solid sheet of ice at this time, i was going as fast as i felt comfortable)....and then suddenly, we came to a complete stop..i had enough time to stop, but once i stopped, i didn't move for about an hour. there was a jack-knifed semi up ahead. so i turned around, drove on the shoulder until i could get on the other side of the interstate, take the next exit, and take the back roads. i did that to maumelle, and got back on the interstate, thinking things were cleared up (mind you, it took at least an hour to take the back roads because of wrecks and whatnot). when i got back on the interstate, about 2 miles down the road, i stopped again, this time i sat for about 30 minutes, before i turned around and took the back roads again. i did find out that the jack-knifed truck this time was 7 MILES AHEAD!!!!...for 7 miles, traffic was not moving an inch...people were out of their cars making snowmen and whatnot.

so....to make a long story short (even though i typed most of what i wanted to say), it took me about 4 and a half hours to make a trip that typically takes 30 minutes.

now...on the way back home, it was no problem for me, although we came to a stop twice, both times i was able to pass on the shoulder and get passed the traffic, but the first time was a jack-knifed trailer which i was able to pass on the grass....i'm not kidding when i say the truck covered both lanes, and the cab was facing the opposite direction, it was nuts. the other stop, was because of a hill that was solid ice....people were going about 5 miles an hour down the hill, which was causing a bottleneck.

something we also noticed (the wife and I), is that on the other side of hte interstate, most of hte vehicles couldn't make it up the hill we were going down....and this was causing alot of backup....so we watched the other side of the intersate, and from maumelle, all the way to the 2nd conway exit (about 20 miles), traffic was completely stopped....i'm guessing that the traffic was backed up at least 30 miles or so....with no one moving....

this morning, when i woke up and i talked to my mom to find out if traffic was clear enough to make it to their house to spend christmas eve....i found out that there were some people on the interstate at 8:00 the night before, that didn't get to their destination in little rock until around 5:30 this morning....how's that for a traffic jam...

if none of that made sense, i'll field questions...

i'll also have some pictures of my adventure as well when i get to a computer where i can download them to.

[SHATOUSHKA]

Originally posted by GravyTrain:
vehicles couldn't make it up the hill we were going down....

<font size="4" face="Comic Sans MS, Verdana">what hill?

[GravyTrain]

from little rock to conway....just after maumelle, there is a hill...just at the bottom of the hill on either side of the interstate are large fields.....it is just after the maumelle exit (or just before if you are coming from conway)

[Genie!]

Well that makes me kinda nervous! I'm leaving tomorrow (December 26th) to DRIVE alone, from Arkansas to Georgia. I'm driving to Georgia to spend a whole week with my family and loved ones.
It's a 14 hour drive and I have to drive through Tennessee and then down through Atlanta. I'm hoping that the roads will be better before tomorrow. The snow is melting here quickly, but I can't say anything for how the roads are through Tennessee and Atlanta. I'm coming back to Arkansas on the 2nd, but I just hope the trip THERE will be safe.
I'll just not use my "lead foot" so much this time.

[GravyTrain]

the roads are all clear....i had no problems after christmas eve

[SHATOUSHKA]

i know the area you were referring to now...
yeah.. the other day i saw MANY cars on the
side of the road... and on that particular hill,
a guy with a trailer STILL slipped and bogged
up traffic. it sucked.

all hail melted snow

[admaniacameroneil]

All hail australia.

[Babi BootifuL]

C'mon Aussie C'mon!