We are in a state of semi-suspense tonight as we anticipate feezing temperatures tonight with the possibility of icy roads tomorrow. I've read where Oklahoma has had several deaths while having been hard hit with icy winter weather and this reminded me of the time Debbie and me had to travel through that state under similar circumstances.

The year was 1978 thru 1979 as the new year turned just as we began to encounter some serious ice. We were on a highway and did not realize that we were on an upward incline except that the car wheels would only spin but gain no traction whatsoever. This required me to push the car and then to chase after it as to do otherwise would have put us into the same spin/no traction scenario we were trying to escape! It was while chasing after her Camaro that the new year was rung in. For some dumb reason both Debbie and I felt a pressing need to get back to Missouri, so we decided to press on.

This turned out to be my worst winter travel experience ever! We made it safely through about 30 miles of intensely icy conditions though it must have taken us close to 6 hours to cover that distance! There were very few houses along the way and very few travelers so we had a dreadful sense of isolation. We encountered both black and white ice which were equally treacherous and on several occasions turned the car sideways even though we were only going 5 miles per hour and did this once as we approached a bridge which of course made for a frightful panic! When we encountered white ice the roadway was difficult to decipher from the surrounding countryside, you kind of just had to stay on top of a crown of ice.

At the time, front wheel drive vehicles were just coming out of Detroit and were much talked about. These cars seemed to have a much easier time dealing with these conditions and I do remember being somewhat amazed when one of these cars passed us by early on in the jouney. But then an hour later and perhaps 5 miles down the road we of course saw this same car run off into a ditch

Anyways, I'll always remember this journey and I am thankful that we made it through!