Larry Sheets, 1990 Score #111

So I've been missing in action for a week, but I've got a heck of a story. Friday, Janet and I drove down to Charlotte to visit her family over the long weekend. We were feeling snake-bit about traveling when the forecast called for more winter weather in the Mid-Atlantic (you might remember our misadventures one year ago), but Janet's grandmother is in poor health so we decided to go. We watched the weather reports closely on Saturday and Sunday, and finally resigned ourselves to cutting our stay short and leaving Sunday afternoon at 4:30. That allowed us to...drive directly into the snowstorm in southern Virginia at about 6:00 pm. Janet and I struggled with lessened visibility, often-slick road conditions, and speeds as low as 35 mph for the next five-plus hours, which made for lots of tense moments. With its two-lane structure and heavy tractor trailer traffic, I-81 can be a challenging drive even on clear days. Shortly after a restroom and coffee stop in Staunton, VA (birthplace of Larry Sheets!), we realized that the interstate wasn't getting any smoother and our ETA was climbing up to 2:30 AM. So by 11:30, we called it a night and checked into the Comfort Inn in Woodstock...and stayed until noon on Tuesday. Monday turned out to be a total wash, thanks to a daylong progression of snow, sleet, and torrential rain. When we finally did hit the road again, it was a clear shot home. We were back in Baltimore just before 3:30 yesterday afternoon, a mere 47 hours after we'd begun the trip. Next year, I think we'll be staying put for President's Day.