Snow Chains

I should have posted this a couple of days ago but i forgot, or maybe my mind was trying to blank it out.

Okay i have found something out over here that i definitely dont like, snow chains.

They are heavy, dirty, awkward, and its always cold when you have to put them on.

Okay heres the story..............................

I woke up at Fernley nice and early as planned, had a nice shower and a chocolate slimfast shake for breakfast. Opened the logbook, did the pre-trip and prepaired to move......

So far so good.....................

By the way has anyone noticed how i like to use lots of dots for effect..............................

Anyway back to the plot, i passed those desert truck stops and you saw those pics. I got to the foot of the Rockies and saw the sign that said you needed chains to clear Donna's Pass.

By the way Donna's Pass is the highest peak you have to go over to get to Sacramento, when we deliver to San Jose or North of there, that is the lane we use, anything further south we go down thru Utah, Arizona, Las Vegas and in that way.

Anyway i saw the sign and also noticed all the trucks parked at the bottom of the mountain. Now one part of me said pull over and wait, unfortunatly that is not the part of me that i listened to and i thought "Sod it, lets just do it".

So up i went, at first it was good going, no sign of snow, then i got a little higher and the snow was on the trees but not on the road, then as i got near the top the road was just slightly damp.

Next thing i know, everyone is pulling over and putting chains on.............................

"okay" i thought, and got out my winter driving manual and turned to the page entitled "Fitting Snow Chains".

Wow is looked like hard work so i went to see how other drivers were doing it, it was nasty, people were sweating, cursing, struggling and generally not enjoying theirselves.

Having spoken to the next driver down from me and armed with a new skill i set about the task of fitting the afore mentioned chains.

2 hours later, covered in sweat, rust and one heck of a bad attitude, they were on and i was good to go. I got in the cab, turned the key to here on the CB that the alert had dropped, it was chains off.

Oh how i laughed.

So i got back out and took them off, basking in the knowledge that i had learned a valuable lesson that day. No i dont mean how to put chains on.............................

What i mean is, if the sign to say chains on is flashing and there are a load of trucks sat at the bottom waiting................ then they are sat there for a reason.

On the funny side, while i was taking my chains off, a truck came passed me and both his chains fell off his trailer wheels, the truck stopped and an embarrassed Mexican driver came running back, threw them over his shoulder and run back to his truck. Obvoiusly his first time too.