Austin Ice Storm - Come watch the fun!

That is the reason that every Miata owner should have an old heavy beater pickup truck also.

I actually need one for other reasons. This weather is extremely rare here. Also, if the roadways in my area ice over, no truck without studded tires or at least good snow chains, practically unheard of in this area, would even make it out of my driveway, and that is something like twenty to 25 yards of concrete to salt before reaching the icy street.

We are truly unprepared here, but it wouldn't make much sense to invest the same kind of money in things like ice crews and snow tires when we have years go by at a time without any significant freezing precipitation. Another scary thing is the thousands of new drivers over the past five years who have never even felt frost under their tires.

The reports are predicting anywhere from 1/4" to 2 inches of ice. Any amount will cause havoc, but 1 to 2 inches will bring down a lot of trees and power lines as well. Oh, the joy. :-)

Pat

with our '91 garaged until the streets are bare (could be weeks), those of us in snow country can only sympathize. even when folks here should know better, and with all the bad-weather equipment at their disposal, altogether too many still slam into each other like drunks when the roads ice or snow-up. fortunately it's mostly hard on fenders. you wisely don't want your miata out in that pinball game. we were thinking of escaping the snow in spokane for some austin t-shirt weather but now having second thoughts. cheers...

we were thinking of escaping the snow in

Chris

This may be one of the longest cold spells we've had in a while, a whole

I plan to visit Washington state this year, what is generally the best month coming up as far as weather? It doesn't look too good right now.

Pat

Pat we have 3 seasons in Western Washington : Aug, Sept. and Winter. :-) Eastern Washington, is more like the rest of the world with cold winters ( -1 F on Sat. ) hot summers (100 F ) and normal spring and fall. SO, if you want to visit Western WA, Aug. or Sept. and camping is fantastic. Parks, trees and water. Eastern WA., late spring or early fall will work well. ( alot like Texas with farm land and rolling hills. )

Bruce Bing '03 LS (West sider, Seattle)

It looks like August to me, just when it has gotten so miserably hot here in Texas that I can barely stand it. I plan to see the ocean, but I will be starting in California, driving all the way up the coast.

I also want to check out Vancouver, Canada. That sounds like my kind of city except for the cold winters. ;-)

Pat

Be careful about California, Pat. If you can get past the high cost of living, you may not leave. Drive route 1 as much as you can. It is stunningly beautiful. And, of course, the Miata will love it.

Ken

pws wrote:

I actually have a family member there, but he is in the mountains so he is experiencing heavy snow. He has also had a few moderate earthquakes and was nearly evacuated due to approaching wildfires in the 2 years since he has moved there.

Beautiful place, but I don't know if I want that kind of excitement, not that I think that Big Bear Lake represents all of California. That is where I will be starting from once I head north, so it will be a long drive. :-)

I will definitely check out Route 1, hopefully in a miata.

Pat

agree -- follow highway 1 as much as you can, and as much as you've got time for, particularly north of big sur. some truly spectacular stretches along the pacific. a favorite is the stretch through the cliffs south of san francisco. also in mendocino county to the north of s.f. but in truth, it's hard to pick the best. get out your map and chart your trip. art

Excellent, I will do that. It sounds like a blast.

Thanks!

Pat

If you are up for it there is a grand section of coastal highway that most people never see and have never even heard of. For reasons that will become apparent upon driving through it is often called the "lost coast". Driving north on RT 1, one may make a left turn on Usal Road and continue much closer to the coast than Rt 1 allows. It will change names a few times along the way and a few stretches are maybe a bit scary to the uninitiated but I have made the trip in my old '91 Miata without trouble. You will eventually reach Petrolia and then Ferndale which allows easy access back to the main route. One thing though, before you head back there you must fill your tank as any sign of civilization such as a gas station are few and far between. It is amazing that such an unspoiled area still exists in California, especially along the coast. If it was Florida, for example, it would all be covered by concrete and condos by now.

Excellent, I will have to look into that. I am still working out which car, when to go, and of course, money, but I have promised myself not to put it off another year.

Thanks!

Pat

Hey Bill, nice to see your words again. Hope you and Carol are doing well.

"BK" wrote in news:CLwrh.63$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe02.lga:

I heard this morning there were only a few hundred left in the St Louis area still out of power. Tho that still seems a bit rediculous since the storm was so much less severe than they expected it to be.

I don't know, perhaps other areas were hit harder. I didn't go out much on Saturday or Sunday, but we had only a fairly light coating of ice. Certainly nothing that I would excuse Ameren for taking nearly a week to restore power from.

-Scott