I had left the night before so I could miss the morning traffic in Portland. I got as far as Salem and stayed there for the night. The following day I thought I'd spend the day doing detours whenever I could, so I did drive around Salem, Albany, and Roseburg, just driving around for no particular reason. I had a GPS unit so getting back to I-5 was never a problem :).The weather was very bad this year and as I got closer to the CA border and into the higher elevation of Ashland OR, snow began to fall. I was probably near the summit when traffic went into a complete halt as some trucks stopped in the middle of the road, fearing slippage, to put on their chains. Despite my brother's advice for me to bring chains, I didn't bring any...I was just plain stubborn about it, I guess, not to mention the fact that I have a big nail (well, actually a screw) on one of my front tires (alas, a spike for the snow ;) ).
Anyway, police finally arrived and guided a small group of us cars around the trucks and allowed us to proceed. As soon as we were free and clear I realized why the trucks decided to make that dead stop: the next 12 miles were steep downgrades. Still, I continued at the best pace I could manage, until I was the only car on the road (literally). Anyway, I got through just fine. I have to give credit to the road crews at OR. The roads were pretty much sprinkled with gravel so I knew I wasn't in any serious danger.
On my return trip, I actually got to see these de-icer trucks that travel in pairs (or sometimes as a trio), systematically shovelling roads and spraying gravel.
