I-80 is normally masses of trucks. The road runs from New York City to San Francisco. What makes it so popular for truckers is the route through Wyoming where it crosses the continental divide without going into high country.

My wife and I celebrated Thanksgiving with family in Colorado on Tuesday, everybody could be there then. During our stay, the state had the largest snow fall in 5 years. Finally, late Wednesday, I dropped my wife at her mother's in Fort Collins and headed for Cheyenne, Wyoming on I-25. It was foggy, in places the driving speed was 40 mph. Switching to I-80, I left Cheyenne behind about midnight on Thanksgiving morning and soon realized the East bound road was closed behind me. I drove alone for most of the next 221 miles. It is a strange feeling to be on the road alone. When I had to pee I just stopped in the middle of the road, got out and did my business.

I-80 connects with I-76 coming up from Denver a few miles before North Platte and just outside of that town I finally encountered an East bound truck. So that road too was closed somewhere West. In this leg of the trip I encountered high winds, ground blizzards, snow squalls and black ice, in other words, perfect driving conditions for my Evo equipped with snow tires. BTW, the winds in the panhandle of Nebraska were the greatest I have ever driven in, enough to suck door glass off its seals making quite a racket. I found driving with high beams dazzling so I rolled the HIDs all the way up and had good illumination without seeing the flying snow. Anyway, fun using the Evo for what it was made for.

 

I was on i80 east bound on Weds - with the crazy tailwind at the time. n/s was not fun on Weds though

 

Out of Cheyenne to Pine Bluffs the wind was out of the SSE but when I stopped at Sidney for gas it was out of the North. Nearing North Platte, the big wind was gone.