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As I was saying...
The snow was now coming down harder, the ABS brakes were employed as we successfully got over the col, and made a very slow decent down the other side. At last, the road was flattening out, but the snow coming down ever harder. The road conditions were now of packed snow and ice, and with little idea of how far we still had to go and the gradients up ahead, we pulled in. It was time to have a think about what to do. We were next to a lorry whose driver was in the process of kitting it out with snow chains. We drove as far as possible off the carriage way, and into the piles of snow created by the snow ploughs.
A few minutes later Jim spotted a car in the rear view mirror at the other end of the straight behind us. GOING AT SOME SPEED. As he passed us we were already reaching for our door handles. He´d steered around us successfully but made his car skid, and in slow motion ended up in the ditch about 6 metres away and down from the road. Thankfully he was just a little shaken - not hurt, and was convinced his car would be fine. He was told off by another drive who´d stopped. The guy in the ditch had over taken him earlier, and had nearly slick tyres.
As we gave him a lift to the nearest garage - (15 miles back the way we had just come) we found that he was even less prepared for the conditions than us. He lacked a coat (!), and was more used to driving in Florida. At the time of the crash he was hoping to make it to Salt Lake City for a late afternoon business meeting.
We drove back up to Alpine, the town where we´d had lunch that day, and found accomodation. We´d lost half a day, but that was all. We wished we´d been better informed about the road conditions on setting off, but there was no mention of it on any of the radio stations or on any sign posts until it was too late.
After this experience we beat a hasty retreat to warmer areas. Most of our time in the US has been camping, but it was just too cold around the Tetons. We had to get to sunnier climes to keep the costs down. We drove to the coast to the Redwood National Park in 2 long driving days. We passed through hundreds of miles of dessert before mountainous scenery of the northern Sierra Nevada and the coastal ranges. Again, we enjoyed another contrast as we arrived at the coast, but time was all too short now, and we had to get the hire car back the following morning.
We then had a fairly typìcal ´épic´ for those of you who know us. Too little time, too many miles, and lots of things to see on the way. We drove quickly down the tortuous coastal road in the dark, needed a super market, needed dinner. But had NO TIME. We ended up on the out skirts of San Francisco at midnight with the petrol tank showing less than empty. It will be a relief to have a different way of travelling and to leave the car behind soon. After searching for a petrol station for 30 minutes we drove up to the Golden Gate State Park. There was a camp site there.
Unfortunately on the way there was an element of dealing in the car parks, giving the area a rather sinister feel, and the camp site was deserted. Plan B. The Youth Hostel. We hopefully bashed on the door for several minutes, before deciding that the car park attached to the Hostel might be a suitable spot to sleep in the car, briefly, before dawn. The view the following morning of the Golden Gate bridge peeping out from the pink clouds was great, but the traffic already building.
One day in San Francisco was spent ´sorting out.´ The mundane chores of sending unwanted kit home (we had increased our number of possessions while we had the car, and again had to think about carrying our bags) getting malaria tablets ready for the adventures ahead, putting photos onto CD to free up flash cards. The other day was great. We got tickets to ride the trams across the city, hanging off the side in the wind, we also enjoyed the new James Bond ("the best yet"), the fish market and a general sight seeing day.
The city itself was one of contrasts. Stick to the main commercial zone and it looks like any large city (UK or US). - Developed, sky scrappers busy and safe. Step a little away from these areas and the streets are filthy, and the area of our hostel was considered a night time no go zone. Lots of drug problems and homelessness. I am a bit of a ´country girl´and did find the contrast intimidating.
We now have a plan for Mexico. The bus beckons.
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