"1A Land", Like It Or NotPosted Monday, December 15, 2008, at 9:37 PM
Sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday, I've got to go to Boise, then again on Friday morning, whether I want to or not.
I've never particularly liked driving around in "1A Land" as I call it, and with the snow and icy roads this week, I'm going to enjoy it even LESS. I've already heard a couple of "I-84" stories today. Even with the roads slick in places, there are still those who think you can breeze along at 75 and 80 out there...and do it safely. I'll be in an old Bug of course, because I know how good they are on bad roads, I'm just gonna have to keep an extra sharp eye on everybody else. I fully expect to see 4x4's off the road...........there always ARE, due to that "false sense of security." On a GOOD note though, once IN Boise, I only have to make ONE stop, and it's not far from the freeway. Only ONE stop Friday, too! I don't know that there is a GOOD day weatherwise this week, and on Friday, I don't have a choice anyway. Normal tire pressure in most car tires is 32 psi. I like to run about 30 on snow or ice. With a little less air, the tires tend to flatten out just a tad, putting a little more tread on the ground. 40-50 mph is fine if the roads are really bad, and even LESS sometimes..............I'd rather get there a little late, than not at all. Additionally, it takes a lot more distance to STOP on ice, if you suddenly HAD to. I normally use the age-old equation when you're behind somebody.........remember?......."ONE car length for every ten miles of speed."....................I DOUBLE that and sometimes even TRIPLE it on icy roads. When I've got someone tailgating ME, I'll gradually slow down until I MAKE him go around me........I don't want him in my back seat if I have to stop suddenly. I also drive in the right hand lane as a rule, and this is especially so on snow. In the right lane, you usually have plenty of shoulder if you need it. Also, since most of the big rigs use that lane, they keep it fairly "cleaned off", although you still have to watch it. And, of course, if I have to BE someplace at a given time, and I know the highway might be "iffy" the next morning, I just leave early enough to compensate for that. If the road is better than I thought, and I get there early.........that's ok, I'll just grab a cup of java and relax. It's supposed to be crappy most of the week, so be safe out there, no matter WHERE you might be off to! Comments Showing most recent comments first [Show in chronological order instead] |
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Thanks desert1der..sounds like my car. I was in no particular hurry Friday morning, and it WAS a little slick, so I was running about 35-40...............MUST have been me.
As good as these old bugs ARE on snow & ice, around town and on mountain roads, sometimes when you get them out on an interstate at highway speeds, the lightweight starts working against you, and they get a little "skittish"
Didn't know about the tail light, but then how many of us actually DO check them before we take off in the morning? I'm very glad YOU noticed it and told me about it though....better than if a COP had to!
I'll change the bulb out after church today. Only takes a few minutes, and if I'm not mistaken, I think I even have a spare bulb in the glovebox! Thanks again!
Thanks desert1der..sounds like my car. I was in no particular hurry Friday morning, and it WAS a little slick, so I was running about 35-40...............MUST have been me.
As good as these old bugs ARE on snow & ice, around town and on mountain roads, sometimes when you get them out on an interstate at highway speeds, the lightweight starts working against you, and they get a little "skittish"
Didn't know about the tail light, but then how many of us actually DO check them before we take off in the morning? I'm very glad YOU noticed it and told me about it though....better than if a COP had to!
I'll change the bulb out after church today. Only takes a few minutes, and if I'm not mistaken, I think I even have a spare bulb in the glovebox! Thanks again!
bazookaman:
I passed you this morning and you should know that your tail light on the passenger side is out.
I am assuming it was you, white bug, stickers in the window, doing about 35 miles per hour, if it wasnt you then disregard.
Merry Christmas
Yeah, I've never had to chain one up....not yet, anyway. My daily driver (71) is a little skittish on ice when I'm out on the interstate, though. I think it's a combination of lightweight at 60 MPH, and too much torque (the engine is an 1835 cc----where a 1600 should be), so ya kind of have to watch the throttle.
The one and only new car I ever bought was a 71 Super Beetle. I bought it in Nampa or Caldwell, can't remember, and paid 2048 for it. Used to go bow hunt below Anderson in the winter with it and usually could get out of there without chains. Sometimes chains were needed but very seldom. Traded it for a Jeep Commando later in life. Skeeter
shazaam!
So am I, Workingbee............only a knucklehead would continue these blogs, which have become little more than an exercise in futility.
Besides, you never know WHO might be out there, reading and "passing along", so as things start to take shape out there, I'm going to have myself REMOVED from the Mountain Home Blog altogether. My close friends know how to contact me OUTSIDE of this network.
Ex-Intern and "Jacknifovich" can ramble on just fine without me.
On a lighter note, today was the day to go to Boise.......Interstate was fine, both ways.
Later
but then I am a knucklehead..........
I have to look but I think I have a photo of that guy with the cart from back in the late 70's.... wow I hadn't thought about him in years......
Yea Mike I remember seeing the old guy as he keep moving around around the Air Base road but never talked to him.
I have driven a few bugs in my live. When I was in Germany I had a VW Le211 wagon that had a gas heater and what a pain it was if I set idling it would blow the fuse but it did put out alot of heat.
I'll be careful. Probably won't go until after Bible Study this morning, so the temperature will be at it's warmest.
Merry Christmas to you and your TOO, Missy, and Eagle Eye.
Hey, do either of you two remember that old guy who called himself "Sunrise?" He was an old Hungarian immigrant, who livd in a two-wheeled cart, pulled by a mule, used to camp out along Airbase Road out by Scrubby's? Had all kinds of signs hung off of that old wagon?
Anybody out there remember him?
One of the few SHORTCOMINGS on these old Bugs, though, Eagle Eye...is the heating system. Hitler wanted an air cooled engine for the "people's car" because the winters were very cold, and the average German house didn't have a garage. With no water to heat up, you had nothing running under the dash through a heater core to defrost your windshield or keep you warm...
..........so......dry heat is transferred from the engine shroud area, through "heat boots" that run under the car and forward through tubed channels. By the time it reaches the floorboard vents, it isn't nearly as warm as when it left the shroud, but is better than nothing.
Depends also on how new or old your heat boots are. I just put new boots on my daily driver, so usually, about the time I get to Simco Road, it's fairly comfortable in there, and by the time I make the rest area, I either have to shut the vents off or roll a window down a little.
NOT a real "creature comfort" machine, not much room in them and they ride............well......they ride like a Volkswagen.
But they're highly reliable, tough to break, easy to maintain, and GREAT on gas.
So I guess I'll keep driving them!
Yea Mike all those tail numbers ring a bell plus I knew Jerry Ash very well, he was in charge of Yellow section when I first got assigned there. You got the right idea on driving to Boise with all the idiots that just think cause they got a 4 wheel drive they can run 75 mph, no problem they just don't understand most with the big tires its like having ice skates on ice driving or trying to stop and I know about the VW bugs and what they can do on snow and ice
Mike, be safe. I came home tonight and there was a lot of black ice. There was a 4 car accident near Micron (at the hill) as well. I hope your trip in the bug is rather boring for you. Take care and have a nice day. Happy holidays to you and yours.