We made it to Mom's, and later my sister's, for Thanksgiving. A three and a half hour drive took five hours, under some very challenging conditions. Route 88 through the Catskills was mostly clear, but the snow was falling nearly faster than the plows were keeping it clear. The last part of 88 was at about 30mph, behind three snow plows.

It was more challenging on the side roads, where the plows either hadn't been yet, or had been through long before we got there, and accumulation had built up.

Before we got on 88, a wierd sound began at the back right tire. Increased and decreased in frequency as the car accelerated or slowed. We stopped at a red light, and no one was behind us so Mitzi jumped out to look at it. A piece of the plastic interior wheel well liner had come loose and was pressing on the tire, causing it to vibrate as the tire rotated.

As soon as we could, we pulled into a gas station and took a closer look. I don't know how it happened, but whatever retainer or fastener that clipped it to the body had either broken or unscrewed, and slush building up pushed it backward into contact with the tire. I was able to clear the icy slush and push it back into position, but I had no way to secure it.

Forty miles later, it did the same thing again. Again we stopped and pushed it back into place. We were supposed to take State Road 206 to get onto 88, but 79 was barely clear, and getting worse. We weren't confident that 206 would be clear at all. We ended up getting on Route 81 going south to pick up 88. 81 and 88 were passable. Visibility was variable. Fortunately, there was little wind.

We saw a semi had somehow slid off 88. A trooper was present and we pressed on. There were drivers with little confidence in their vehicle or their skills, driving at 20 to 25 mph, with their flashers on. The right lane was the clearest, but the left lane looked ok, so I passed the first one.

I was quite impressed with the RAV4 Prime. It handled magnificently. Never once did I feel as though it wasn't firmly connected to the road, and never sensed any wheel-spin. It just went where I pointed it as if the snow wasn't even there. That said, I never got much above 55 mph. I passed about three "convoys" of cars stuck behind slower vehicles but unwilling to pass.

The last portion of 88, as I mentioned, was in a large group of vehicles, all behind a three-abreast formation of plows. Smooth sailing, but slower than I'd have preferred.

Once off 88, it was back to very snowy, slushy roads. On a side road with a 40mph limit, there was a woman driving with her flashers on at 20mph. I passed her and this seemed to offend her, as she treated us to a very long blast on her horn. (Perhaps it was a celebratory salute to our conquest of the elements?)

We were to pick up Mom to take her to my sister's. When we arrived at her place, a tractor with a blade had just cleared the parking lot. We stayed and chatted for an hour, then got Mom into the car and headed to Diane's, which was only a few miles away. They'd left one side of the driveway clear so we could get as close to the house as possible. We were able to get her safely inside.

The good news was the lack of wind, and the temperature never went much below 33°F. Snow would accumulate and sort of melt, but nothing froze. Until that night. We had a lot of frozen slush on the roof of the car, and pieces would break off and slide off the back, hitting the deck-edge of the rear hatch with a loud bang.

Mitzi drove back to Burdett. From Albany, all down through the Catskills it was sunny and clear and the views were magnificent. We were able to take 206 this time, but it became overcast with light snow. Temperatures again hovered at 33-34°. We stopped in Greene, NY for a late breakfast, and I was telling Mitzi that I was getting this very powerful Groundhog Day vibe. The place, Bonnie's, was nearly full with the kinds of people you saw in the movie.

We gassed-up and pressed on for home.

It was snowing off and on as we approached Burdett, but it was clear that there hadn't been the kind of accumulation we saw out at the eastern part of the state.

My brother was driving in from East Syracuse and he turned around at Canajoharie because his pickup was fish-tailing and because of the number of accidents and disabled vehicles he was encountering on the Thruway. So it clearly snowed very heavily to the north of us, which was somewhat consistent with the forecast.

I'd expected to encounter rain, but we got snow. It all worked out, but it was a tiring drive. I ended up napping on the couch after everyone had left.

We had a lovely get-together with no family drama. My sister worked very hard to put on a wonderful meal and everyone had a nice time catching up. We FaceTime'd with my brother from Syracuse, and I checked in with my kids.

I'm glad we did this. Mom's Parkinson's is getting worse, and that's not going to change, so...

The weather seems to have cooled Mitzi's enthusiasm for moving here somewhat. But she's always insisted that if we did, she'd be wintering elsewhere. I'm pretty sure the plan is still viable, but this experience has been very useful in terms of knowing what to prepare for in coming years. For one thing, we're buying a snow brush/ice scraper today and leaving it in the garage when we head back to Florida.

This was an extreme event in terms of recent climate experience. To some extent, I worry that the state and counties may let their snow-removal infrastructure wither due to lack of use, and then something like this will happen. To be clear, the weather the past couple of weeks is quite familiar to me from my experience growing up in New York; but it seems to be a rare occurrence now. But that investment in equipment and supplies to keep the roads clear is just as important as it ever was.

Anyway, we enjoyed some leftovers last night, watched the Ted Lasso Christmas episode and then Groundhog Day, and I was quite content.

Feels like home.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 05:37 Saturday, 30 November 2024