SNOW!!!!!! SNOW CHAINS!!!!!

Hi Everyone. We finally made it home after 3 weeks on the road.  We made it home once for about 10 hours one Saturday night.  We went to Phoenix, LA, San Fran, Alburquerque, Reno.  I love the desert and the temperature there, so it could have been way worse.  We had our first experience with snow chains.  We were going up Donner Pass on I80 in northern California.  Trucks were lined up along the side of the road putting their chains on, so we stopped and started putting our chains on.  This was our very first time so we didnt really know what we were doing.  Anyway, we were on our second tire, and a CalTrans (California Transportation) truck drove by with a sign saying "Keep going - no chains for 18 miles".  Boy were we relieved.  So about 18 miles up the road, CalTrans was there again, but this time they were checking trucks for chains.  Fortunately as we were approaching, they cancelled the order.  We were VERY lucky!  But, the next day, we had to go back over the pass.  I80 was actually closed most of the afternoon because of an accident.  About midnight, we called the CalTrans number and the road was re-opened.  Since we had an appointment at 7:00 am, we had to go.  We had gone maybe five miles (we were in Nevada at this time, heading west), and a sign was flashing "Chains Required".  Once again, trucks lined along the side of the road.  This time we weren't so lucky.  We had to do "max" chains, which means on 4 tractor tires and 2 trailer tires.  So we did it.  It was John's turn to drive (he hadn't ever driven with chains on), and he said it was actually a lot better driving with the chains.  You can only go about 30 mph with chains on anyway.  It took us about 3 hours to go 100 miles.  Putting chains on is one of the most dirty and dangerous jobs we have ever done.  We are thinking of suggesting it for the Dirty Jobs show on tv.   We also took some ketchup, salt and pepper in case we got stuck and had to start eating each other.  We feel a lot better about this winter driving now, though, so we learned a lot and felt good about it.  Of course, we will never admit that to our dispatcher. Ever.