I love having a garage connected to the house. But of course when I bought the place I didn't think about what winters would bring. The top of my driveway slopes sharply down, then it makes a 90 degree turn to the right to go into the garage. And even when I get my driveway clear at the top (in competition with plows that periodically re-block the entrance), that whole thaw-freeze cycle happens and the water that seeps down off the road freezes into a lovely ice slick at night - even AWD can't get me over that at an uphill slant. So I have to move the SUV to my front yard in order to be able to use it when the weather gets bad. You know, that bad weather that would make being able to park in a garage so nice.
I just finished chipping the driveway out enough that I got the Sante Fe up into the front yard so tomorrow's storm can coat it with snow and ice. Fa.
Expecting some of that here as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember giving it permission to be Winter this year...
DeleteYep, its winter all-right, hopefully you can use ashes or sand/salt it down enough to get by and into your garage.
ReplyDeleteTry some snow tires, they do make quite the difference in winter handling, even on ice. I'm thinking of buying stock in the salt company considering how much salt I use on my driveway every winter it may just payoff as an investment :-).
I've thought of snow tires but in this area we might get winter or we might not. So currently I'm still on the just piss and moan about it side.
DeleteYou need to find a neighborhood kid and pay him... :-) And yes, get some sand bags and use that for traction (and keep a bag in the truck too). Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteI saw that all over W Va on my way through today. Everyone is parking their cars up by the road. Probably has something to do with the fact that there's not a flat surface to be found anywhere in this state. Meh. Keeps things interesting.
ReplyDeleteYeah. And I have no concerns about getting DOWN the mountain. Except for the whole thing about possibly not being in control of things as it happens...
DeleteToss some trashbags over the windows (masking tape keeps them in place reasonably well) or a tarp, that'll help make clearing off the windows the next morning a snap. Yeah...I'm in Texas, so we don't get much of a winter, but when we do, its usually pretty nasty. Moreso due to the locals who never learn how to drive in rain (much less snowy/icy conditions), but still there are those frosty, wintery mix mornings to deal with. The trashbags/tarps were a trick I learned from a friend while living up in Washington State.
ReplyDeleteOh, and +1 on the bag of sand (or twelve!). Our driveway slopes down, so I never have a problem getting *out* of it, but I drive a pickup, which has almost zero weight (and therefore traction) in the butt end. A 50-pound bag of sand put in the bed, centered, up against the tailgate, provides all the traction I need to keep the rear end behind the engine, where it belongs. Careful driving helps that, too, of course.
DeleteWhen the roads get really bad I sometimes watch out my back windows - the street behind me dips down and up steeply in a swale. There's a lot of people around here who don't get a lot of bad road rules, so it can provide a great deal of entertainment.
DeleteYes, WV country roads certainly are interesting in the winter.
ReplyDeleteThe whole helplessly shooting down one street into another after our one snow last year was more excitement than I like...
DeleteWhat is this "Winter" of which you speak? =)
ReplyDeleteSmartaleck.
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