My brother Andy has been telling us about the very cold weather they have been having in Iowa, and his trip to Des Moines and back on icy roads. It recalled to mind an experience of mine.
20 years ago, more or less, Anne & I flew to Iowa for Christmas. Nasty snow storm came in the day we drove to Des Moines to catch our flight home. Cruise control, 60-70 mph all the way into town. When we got to the outskirts of Des Moines we started seeing cars off to the side of the road and cars creeping along on the highway. There was virtually no traffic. A prudent person would have slowed down, but the road was straight and there were no obstacles, so I held steady, very steady, very, very steady. I was glad when we got to our exit. I think I started slowing about a mile before we left the highway. Do not twitch, just ease on over, real easy like. The exit ramp was uphill and we coasted to a stop.
The next morning our rental car (a Chevy Caprice) was buried under about two feet of snow. I called the airport to see if our flight had been canceled, and the girl was like, no problem. You could practically hear the sunshine in her voice. I am like where are you? You must be in Florida. If you were in Des Moines, you wouldn't be sound so optimistic.
When we got on board the plane we got to watch them hose off the wings with de-icer. Not a real comforting sight. I think ours was the last flight they let out that morning before they closed the airport.
Update December 2016 replaced missing pictures.
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