6 Rules for Ruling the Winter Road

I apologize for not posting as frequently these past few weeks as I normally do. This Minnesota winter has been a crazy, busy one; from shoveling for hours at a time, to trying to beat ice dams from dominating the house to digging our cars out from being stuck. So while it’s not conducive to posting on my blog, one thing I can say for certain is that I definitely don’t need a gym membership!

Even at the cusp of Spring we still have too much snow- an accumulation of all the snow from the entire winter. It doesn’t take much wind at this point to create some havoc-sized drifts and last night was no different. For the third time this winter we got the jeep stuck. In the middle of the road. No ditches involved, just a surplus of snow. After that much experience with getting stuck I have come up with this list of 6 essential tips for traveling out on the winter road.

6 Rules for Ruling the Winter Roads

1. Drive slowly on ice. Very slowly. Drive fast through snow (if you’re trying to blow through a deep part and there is no ice underneath the snow.)

2. Always carry a shovel with you. You never know when you will need it. Be it from digging yourself or others out of the work parking lot to clearing a path through a deep drift on your way home.

3. Call for help. Have neighbors and/or friends you can call for help in a pinch. AAA membership can also be a godsend on those days when no one else is around to help.

4. Don’t go. If you don’t think you’ll make it, you probably won’t. Don’t try, it’s just not worth it.

5. Maintenance. If you get stuck, but don’t have a heated garage then make sure you remove all the built up snow from your car’s undercarriage so that it doesn’t cause more damage.

6. Document it. If you can’t laugh about it later, then what’s the point of even leaving the house. It makes for some great party conversation material!