Heading to School

I survived Snowmageddon -- by a few car lengths.

In 2010, I was a supply teacher living in Strathroy. That morning, I was scheduled to work in Sarnia. It was a snowy morning, but years before I had been a trucker and thought little of it. I had left early, knowing things would be a bit slower than usual. As I approached Wyoming, I received a call that my job had been cancelled. On the radio, reports were coming in that we were in for quite the weather event and that the 402 in front of me was being closed. Although visibility remained reasonably good, the snow was getting heavier.

Pulling up to the Wyoming ramp I planned to head to the truck-stop to decide what to do. But I became stopped several cars back at the top of the ramp. I could see that a semi could not make it over the bridge. This blocked everyone's path. I learned later that this had likely created the bottleneck and the subsequent stranding on the highway. I was very familiar with this area. After waiting for some 10 minutes, I asked the driver in front of me to pull up a bit so I could go around and head to the truck stop. They obliged. I carefully pulled around them and then the truck on the bridge. No surprise it hadn't made it. The bridge was nearly pure ice.

I expected the East-bound lanes to be closed. Surprisingly they were open and I decide to turn back. It was a very slow go, but I was able to keep moving the entire time. The day became more interesting. I was asked to help at a school in Glencoe. I became half stuck several times, but finally arrived at around 11:00. I stepped out of my small car. For the first time in many years, I was shaking. The drive home at the end of the day was slightly better, but not by much. By now I knew what had happened on the West-bound 402 behind. I knew how lucky I had been and that I had only been several car lengths from being stuck in place (like many other actually had) for quite a long time.