blowing snow

Whoever thinks South Dakota is boring clearly never tried to drive here in the winter. This past weekend I drove down to Sioux Falls one last time to see a few more people before heading back to Boston this Thursday. Driving down on Saturday afternoon was the most strenuous drive I’ve ever experienced. It was sunny and clear above, but strong winds were blowing the snow across the road in waves of mist, making the pavement look as much like a river as a road. (Playing "find the lane" is bad enough on snowy streets in town, but it's downright dangerous on the interstate.) Even worse, there was snow buildup in the left lane. There was a plow in that lane, working to get it cleared, but it had a long way left to go. The first time I came across the snow buildup, I couldn’t get out of the lane because of another car, and it caused me to swerve back and forth quite a bit before I got out onto clear pavement again. After that, I didn’t try to pass anyone until I came to a stretch near Sioux Falls that was completely clear in both lanes. For a while, a string of us were driving 45 mph, and even on the better spots we didn’t get much above 60mph. I can’t tell you how many cars I saw in the ditch on that drive (just as many SUVs as anything else—four-wheel-drive does not mean you can drive full speed on snow!).

On Sunday I wasn’t finished with business in town until after dark, so I stayed an extra night in order to avoid facing the same blowing snow in the dark. The few hours lost the next day were more than made up for in safe driving conditions and unexpected time with friends as I spent the night at Lauren and Berty’s CB apartment one last time.

-Kim