YOW!!!!
I left at 1330 to pick up my wife at DIA, where she was returning on a 1500 flight. Normally it takes me just about an hour from when I leave until I'm in the terminal.
It took over two hours today, and SLW was frantic when I finally met her. Of all the times I've "forgotten" to take my cellphone with me, this one was just about the worst-case scenario. Fortunately she'd called our DIL who promptly informed her that the highway was CLOSED, and the detours could be "iffy" if you don't know the area well, and not to panic until I was over an hour late, which I was. As soon as SLW saw me walking in she burst into tears, and it took a good 15 minutes to calm her down.
Turns out a tanker truck with 12,000 gallons of diesel aboard had rolled over about 0100 this morning on the stretch of I-25 between US 34 and Larimer County Road 402. Traffic was blocked, going both directions, along this 2 mile stretch of I-25.
And the tanks broke open, spilling ALL of the diesel fuel out onto the highway, and into a drainage ditch adjacent to the Big Thompson River.
It's a first-class, Grade "A" mess, and will be until 1300 tomorrow when they're planning on opening I-25 back up after all the clean-up, decontamination, and emergency road repairs.
Coming home also took over two hours, but that was mostly due to very heavy traffic on the roads being used for the detours.
Between learning to really read and understand the map symbols for roads on the truck's GPS, and the 45 minutes I just spent using Google Maps, I now have a much better ideas of the state and county roads around here, and how to use them vs just hopping on the Interstate.
And I just put a couple of paper maps and an atlas in the truck.....
Which is why I had a Rand McNally paper atlas in the car.
ReplyDeleteThe maps were bought when we first moved here, and I kept them in my Jeep.
DeleteUnfortunately they were among the few items that didn't get transferred out of my Box-O-Stuff that I always carry.
That section is under construction and will be a challenge for another year. Too late now but for future reference go East to HWY 85 then get on the toll road South of Brighton.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I went to Dacona down 85 and it was as foggy as I've ever seen between Penrose and Ft Lupton. A woman who I once promoted is now a county commissioner and was holding a meat breakfast in response to Emperor Polis declaring March 20th a "meatless day". Coming back was another event in LaSalle - some good smoked beef!
Yeah, looking at the maps that would be a "better" way of going. I got off on 34 headed East, and was scouring the GPS for county roads headed South so I could continue South to the "402" to pick up the highway again. The road I took went from two-lane blacktop to "unimproved", and the truck got quite a work out! I finally got on a road headed West again, and got back on the highway just South of Johnson's Corner. I could have taken 257 South, as it hits the 60, but duh...
ReplyDeleteNext time I'll just go to the 85, and take it to the E470.
I am so glad you are all okay.
ReplyDeleteWe often take paper maps with us when we travel. Google can't be trusted once you're off main drags.
God bless!
I didn't have my phone, so Google wasn't an option. I carried paper maps in my Jeep, but they didn't get transferred to the new car until yesterday...
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