I’ve been driving back and forth from Seward to Lincoln for nearly 12 years. Something like 2,500 times. Yesterday was the second worst fog ever. The worst fog ever was just a few months ago, but I don’t want to talk about that one.
Lauren checks the weather in the mornings and yesterday she said that it was foggy. I asked how foggy and she said that there was zero visibility. It turns out that zero is a relative term. There was actually a little less fog than a few months ago, but, as if to make up for it, everything was covered with a thin coating of ice. Luckily, the ice was only bad in Seward. Once I got out on the highway it was back to just fog.
A few months ago during the worst fog (okay, it turns out I do want to talk about the worst fog), I was the second person in the line of cars that looked like it stretched over half a mile behind us. The person in the lead set our speed at about 35 miles per hour (speed limit here is 60) and that was fine with me. During the 20 mile trip to Lincoln, only two people tried to pass us, and I only had to drive on the side of the road so that the guy who tried to pass us could avoid a head on collision once. About a mile later we passed one three car pileup at an intersection (emergency vehicles had already arrived).
It was nerve wracking, but I wasn’t in front. I had very little responsibility. Yesterday, I was the lead driver. That was much worse. Should I go 35mph? 45mhp? 65 until I caught up to the next car, and then it could be his problem? Well, the fog wasn’t as bad as last time, so I fluxuate around 45mph. A little faster when I thought I could see a little further and slower when I hadn’t seen any other cars in a while (is there a 70 car pileup ahead of me?).
Once again, two people passed us and sped off into the night. Only one almost ran head on into another car. But what really scared me were the deer. I saw 5 deer yesterday on the road. There were probably more on the side of the road egging them on, but the fog was too thick to see them.
You know how everything is very quiet in the fog? I think they just didn’t hear the cars. First there were two deer in the other lane. They were just standing there when I drove past. They really didn’t look like they were going anywhere (see honey badger). Just standing in the other lane.
I don’t think I would have seen the second group of three except there was a car coming the other way and they were just barely discernible in the space between our cars where our headlights gave up to the fog. I was actually quite a bit further away from this set of deer, but they shook me up more. Seeing two deer is out of the ordinary (that only happens every few months). Barely seeing 5 in one morning is a little ridiculous. Right after I saw the second set of deer, the second idiot passed me.
The photos are from the trip home. Visibility: 1/4 mile.
THE FOG ATE MY COMMENTS!! BOO! HOO!
Holy cow, I’m glad it wasn’t slick on the highway. Lloyd left about fifteen minutes before I did, so I was unprepared for the ice. I slid through an intersection and completely turned the truck around, and was only going about 8 miles an hour. After crawling along to work, I was praying, praying, praying.
SO glad you made it safely, Lloyd.
The hwy north of Delta was closed last night due to multiple accidents. Never fun.
A friend that drives to GJ to work at St Marys said the trip this morning was much better.
The schools in eastern Maryland are always delaying school for fog. Would that ever happen in Nebraska?
It’s definitely no fun being the lead car. I don’t like what might be in front. The driver behind me makes me nervous, especially when he follows TOO CLOSELY!
We had three days of dense fog. Couldn’t even see the neighbor’s house. I think we sent it to you.
I’m with Lloyd; not wanting to be the lead driver. The drive home last night was less than fun – A couple of times, I thought I saw a hint of a car a little ways ahead of me, but not sure. Then it was gone, so then I was paranoid that I was going to hit it because I didn’t know where it went. Country roads were worse because we don’t actually have our own lane to drive in and they were all mud. If I drove too fast I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough reaction time if I met another car; if I drove too slow, I had trouble getting up the hills in the mud. UGH! THEN I ended up being home by myself because my husband’s schedule changed last minute – foggy nights are different anyway, but home alone on top of it – I heard a loud noise from I think the basement and about 5 seconds later the power went out! It was only out for less than 30 seconds, but I was so afraid for most of the night. I slept on and off -then about 3:00 a.m. I decided if someone were in the house they would have killed me by now; shut the lights off and went to sleep.
I didn’t even think about fog on a gravel road. That would be nasty.
I decided if someone were in the house they would have killed me by now; shut the lights off and went to sleep. I laughed out loud at that!