Back in one piece...

Spent the weekend near Tahoe in Truckie. We got 1.5 ft of snow between saturday night and sunday afternoon. Nevertheless Emily and I decided to drive back as soon as I-80 opened so we could get back Sunday night and not miss Monday at work. Tire chains are a real pain in the butt. Both my chains snapped. Fortunately I was able to pull to the side of the road in a relatively safe location (meaning semis were roaring by like 4 feet from me as I crawled under the car to disentagle the chains from the half axle - getting fairly mired in much at the same time). Tire chains are required at times on I-80, but they honsestly seem like very unsafe garbage. The road is littered with broken chains. My theory is they are designed to be a deterent to drivers, more than an actual functioning safety mechanism. Anyway, chain chaos aside, we had a very relaxing weekend watching snow fall on evergreens (I was tempted to say Snow Falling On Cedars, but I refrained).

Actually, I just checked the DOT report for I-80:

"Enter Highway Number(s)
You can also call 1-800.427.7623 for current highway conditions. Mobile

This highway information is the latest reported as of Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 21:50 .

I 80

[IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & THE SIERRA NEVADA]
WESTBOUND TRAFFIC IS BEING HELD AT CISCO GROVE (PLACER CO) - DUE TO AN
ACCIDENT - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW
TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM 1 MI EAST OF BAXTER (PLACERCO) TO THE
DONNER LAKE INTERCHANGE (NEVADA CO) "