My Silverado was a life saver!!!

[Elwood 2000]

Last week, myself, the wife and kids went to Disney world just before Christmas. Excellent trip! On Wed. ,we left Daytona (stayed at friends house) and made our way towards home. Made it to Nashville Tn., where we planned to stay the night. As we were getting there, the rain was turning to ice. Checked the weather (my bad, I didn't check any weather before we started home, but hey, I was on VACATION!! )

 

Come to find out, a HUGE blizzard was moving thru, just to our north. Great! At any other time of the year, we would have just stayed in Nashville a few days to let things get cleared off and proceed home, but it was right before Christmas. If I was going to be away from home for the holidays, I would have stayed in Florida!!

 

The next morning, we watched the news, got the scoop on the weather and the roads, then proceeded north, up I-65. The roads in TN were not too bad, but there were plenty of cars in the ditch. No offense to anyone from KY, but you need to get people who know how to plow and SALT roads. The roads were in worse shape than the snowy grass in the ditches. Honestly, the roads were worse than the medians! After passing thru Louisville, the snow amounts really increased. Just after crossing the Ohio River, about exit 4, we were stopped for 3 hours due to a wreck at exit 16. Exit 9 was the only open exit ramp I could find. The others were not plowed and they were full of stuck semi trucks. This is where the real adventure starts. The town that we got off at was for all practical purposes closed. I am guessing a minimum of 1 foot of snow, probly closer to 18 inches. The main road thru town, Hwy 31, was plowed. This hwy runs parallel to 65 and we wanted to get around the wreck ahead. North of exit 9, hwy 31 was plowed for a while, then we saw the snow plow stuck in the ditch and the road got a bit worse after that. Finally, after working our way north of the accident on the interstate, we headed back towards 65. We stopped at the only gas station open, next to the interstate, but it was barely plowed, very crowded and was a task to get in and out. We topped off with gas, got plenty of food and was ready to go. At this point, a semi truck was in the process of getting stuck right in the entrance way of this gas station and would have blocked everyone in!

 

We gassed on it and drove thru about 20-25 feet of deep snow to get out on the highway and make our way towards the on-ramp of the interstate. After forging our way back on the interstate, driving was a challenge, but traffic was not bad for quite a while. The road was plowed, at some points 2 lanes, mostly 1.5 lanes and for a long stretch, only 1 lane and twice, it was plowed around stranded cars. The road was very compacted snow full of worn holes and wash boards. Top speed was 25-30 mph and usually closer to 15-20 mph, with the exception of the "Furious" honda with a 6 foot wide and 4 foot tall wing on the deck lid that felt he needed to pass me at about 50 mph! Needless to say, my Silverado in the end faired better than he did later on that evening. When I last saw him, a couple of his buddies were trying very hard to push against that wing to get him out of the ditch!

 

As night fell, there were literally tens of thousands of people heading south, but at a stand still. I would guess I saw more than 500 cars, trucks, semi trucks, plow trucks and even wreckers stranded in the ditches. If anyone tells you that Seymore Indiana had 29 inches of snow, they are not smoking dope, lying or just plain stupid! I saw it for myself!! It was absolutely unreal!! I have seen snow like this In MI and WI on snowmobiling trips, but these people know how to and have the equipment to deal with it.

 

The further north we got, the less the snow was and by the time we reached Indy, there was only about 6-7 inches on the ground and just west of Indy, the roads were perfectly clear and I was hammering at 75mph to end a very long and stressful day.

 

What should have taken me 5.5 hours on a nice sunny warm day took me 14 hours thru some of the most nerve racking driving I have ever done. My truck took me and my family thru this event without a hitch. Never any problems. Actually, one of my biggest concerns was the accident that some idiot that feels they have to drive too fast in a bad situation will cause.

 

A very stressful adventure for the family and my truck and probly one of my last with it. It is for sale as a Suburban is almost here. I hope the Suburban that we get is as good to me as my Silverado has been.

 

 

 

Anyone else feel their truck has made the difference in getting there safely and not?

[foghorn23]

Elwood 2000, just wondering what type of tire you were running to make it through a blizzard like this?

 

vroten

[Elwood 2000]

BFG AT KO. 285-75-16.

 

I have had them in the past and will always have them in the future!

 

Their performance was impressive!

[RyanbabZ71]

If anyone tells you that Seymore Indiana had 29 inches of snow, they are not smoking dope, lying or just plain stupid! I saw it for myself!! It was absolutely unreal!! I have seen snow like this In MI and WI on snowmobiling trips, but these people know how to and have the equipment to deal with it.

 

The further north we got, the less the snow was and by the time we reached Indy, there was only about 6-7 inches on the ground and just west of Indy, the roads were perfectly clear and I was hammering at 75mph to end a very long and stressful day.

 

I can vouch for that. I was in the Avon (west of Indy) area Thursday the day the ygot all the snow. They had 12-18 inches of snow. I sat on I-65 that morrning up in NW IN for over an hr and a half due to 2 semis jack knifing. It was a stressful ride but it had to be done (for a home inspection)

 

Elwood how far up 65 did you go?

 

Here is a pic of some snow

[az'03Silverado]

It was 65 degrees and sunny in Phoenix on Christmas Eve. All kidding aside, though, I'm glad you and your family made it home OK and safe! Good truck and good driver!

[Elwood 2000]

We went all the way up to Indy, then west on I-74 towards Illinois.

 

03 Silverado, when I left Daytona on Wed. morning, it was 65 degrees at 8 am and I was in a T-Shirt with the A/C on.

 

If it were not for being "Black Listed" by my family for the rest of time, we would have stayed in Florida until the day before the kids had to go back to school!

[gnutruk]

What a great story. Your 'Betsy' pulled you through a real tough situation. Too bad you have to sell her; it sounds like she earned her place as a full member of the family.

 

Like az'03Silverado said ("Good truck and good driver!"), simply having a great truck with excellent tires will never be enough for conditions like that. In the last analysis, the skill, knowledge, and experience of the driver is what makes the crucial difference.

 

You had it, and congratulations!

 

gnutruk

[dgrammer]

Well similar situation. Was up in Missouri last week to visit relatives. Came back home to Alabama on Thursday night. Everything was fine till Kentucky. By this time it is about 3:00 am Friday morning. Roads were so bad you couldn't drive more than 25 miles and hour at best. Not many people out though so that was a plus. Got to Tennessee border and 2 rigs jacknifed 18 miles down the road. Took 2.5 hours to go 15 miles. Finally after seeing other 4x4 trucks drive down the shoulder I said the h**l with it and followed them. Got to the front of the line and probably saved myself an hour. By this time it is about 10:00 and the sun is starting to melt the ice and everone is sliding all over the place. Everything was much better after nashville. Took 18 hours to get home when it is usually 12 hours.

 

Good ol 02 Z71 worked perfect the whole time.

[2k3TahoeZ]

That was my xmas last year with my Z71 Tahoe. We were on our way up to Lake Tahoe for and highway 50 was only open for 4x4's with chains. We didn't have any and all the stores were closed for the holidays. We took it nice and slow up the mountain and we got there nice and safe.

[99silveradoz71]

I believe we had about 20" on the ground Thursday. I know it was knee-high by the time I got outside at 11. We do get a lot of blowing and drifting due to the new construction and lack of trees. But I drove the rado to Grandma's and then to my folks with no problems at all.