shutdown -h in Denver

[Collins Richey]

The mind-blowing aspect of my adventure yesterday is this. If I hadn't
gotten stuck in the  drift, I would have gotten stuck in a
mind-numbing traffic jam three blocks later and would have taken 1
hour plus to reach the same gas station where I spent 3 hours until my
Samaritan rescued me.

The station is on Arapahoe Rd, a six lane East-West thoroughfare with
45-55 speed limits, but traffic was totally stopped because there was
a slight hill just beyond the gas station. Most vehicles in Denver,
it's sad to say, don't have enough traction to climb even a slight
incline in the snow. Cars were making about 1/2 block per hour
progress up the hill, bypassing those who were spinning out. Several
of the people at the gas station were stuck in snow drifts on the gas
station property itself!

The woman who drove me home was stuck in the same mess, but turned
around to fill up her tank. We made a detour 15 miles south to take
another person home and bypassed the traffic jam to meet Arapahoe Rd.
again 5 miles East of the problem area. I'm sure that I was inside my
house  and warm before most people got past the bottleneck on Arapahoe
Rd. In my car, nevertheless, I would have gotten stuck on the detour
route where the drifts were just as bad as the one where my car is
stuck now.

Further west on the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, motorists were stranded
for upwards of 7 hours. It is hard to believe, but apparently 5000
people were still in the airport waiting on flights when the airport
shutdown. Flights will not resume until tomorrow.

So, my little adventure was just that: a little adventure.  My wife
was lucky. Her company had the good sense to shutdown at 8:30 while
the storm was still moving in.

-- 
Collins Richey
     If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
     of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.