February 18th, 2022: Chautauqua, NY - Chicago. 497 miles

We were surprised this morning to see our car and the road outside the inn covered in around 5" of fresh snow.  We were expecting a dusting.

We had to shovel out the car and de-ice the doors, which had frozen shut from the previous night's ice storm. So glad that Joe packed most of the car the night before! We didn't get going till after 10:30, so decided not to attempt any stops along the way, except for necessary things.

Earlier I took Little Papi out for a walk in the snow, down to the lake where we saw people ice fishing in the distance, snow blowing around them, giving it kind of an ethereal quality. It was cold -- bracing and refreshing (but the wind was sharp!) 

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Chautauqua really looked like a winter wonderland this morning. That was the pretty part. The slush over ice on Rte. 394 was still to come...

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Route 86 and the famous lake effect snow, which we (enjoyed/endured, take your pick) for a little over 100 miles -- heavy snow, lowered visibility, but no accumulation --so not too bad to drive in. Much better than the first 40 miles out of Chautauqua-- though the road was plowed, changing lanes meant crossing slush-covered ice. Very exciting, though I sure hoped it wouldn't stay like that through the rest of Ohio and Indiana. Though I haven't driven real winter weather in a long time, I'm grateful I learned to drive on New England roads in winter!

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notice how my Apple's photo program IDs the image. 'snowbelt!' Wonder if that's a seasonal ID or the good people in Cupertino think all it does in upstate NY, PA, and Ohio is snow...

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After the snow subsided and the skies cleared, we saw the beauty of yesterday's ice storm, and were glad we hadn't tried to drive in it. Even more so when we passed three jack-knifed tractor-trailers on Rte. 90. Two were on the side of the road, facing the wrong way. A third was in the meridian. (We weren't quick enough to catch the shot, but this is what they looked like - all ended up facing the oncoming traffic.)

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18 degrees. it's a festival of salt and snow. If we were in New England year-round, there's no way the Dream Car would make it to 26 years and nearly 300,000 miles!

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Just a pretty barn by the side of the road. The roads were clear by now, but the winds had picked up -- mostly heavy sideways gusts. the good thing about a 26-year-old car is that it's relatively heavy. and all our stuff helps, too!

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Elwood: "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark out, and we're wearing sunglasses." Jake: "Hit it."

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(did i mention i ended up driving the whole 497 miles today?)

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We are so brilliant with our trip planning. Arriving Chicago just in time to enjoy Friday rush hour. That's okay, it gave Joe time to place his order for curbside pizza pickup (sometimes it's Lou Malnati's; this time it was Giordano's).