Day #171 – Continuing towards Grants, NM

Day #171 – Continuing towards Grants, NM

Note: Please click on picture more than once to view all photos.

As we arrived at the walk site, we found snow on the ground (and a little ice), but it seemed walk-able and drive-able, so Freedom Walker started walking.

I waited at the starting point until the time when he would be close to the 5 mile point. I was blessed to see the sun come out and the snow and ice on the road melt, leaving a shiny, but only wet, road. I drove on towards the 5 mile point.

As I approached the exit, I felt the car shifting slightly back and forth – towards the left and the right, so I slowed down to 45 mph. Coming up to the exit, I tried the brakes, and heard them locking, so left them alone. As I looked at the exit ramp, I saw snow and realized I should be able to get traction there, so I took the exit – successfully! I drove very slowly on the ramp and up onto the bridge to cross over to the other side of the interstate. Realizing, the right lane was a sheet of ice, I used the left lane, as there was slush and sand there so I knew I could get some traction. A police car approached from the opposite direction, so I pulled into the right lane and stopped, getting into a little snow on the edge of the road for traction, and I put on the flashers, until it passed, and I returned to the left lane. The police officer must have realized what I was doing, as he did not stop.

After I arrived at the place I would wait for Freedom Walker, I found a place to park off the road in the snow. As I waited, two police cars, a sheriff vehicle, and a ranger passed by. The ranger stopped to see if I was okay, and continued on. An ambulance and fire truck also passed by and I wondered if there was an accident on the side road ahead.

About the time that Freedom Walker came into view, the traffic going east on I-40 came to a stop and became backed up. Freedom Walker reported to me that he had seen the accident. A pickup truck, westbound, in the left lane, suddenly turned left, drove across the median, across the eastbound lanes (there was no traffic), missed the guardrail, hit the bank, and rolled over. The police told him the man was still alive.

This apparently happened close to the area where I hit the ice before taking the exit.

If Pastor had been about ten minutes earlier, he could have been right in that truck’s pathway.

We thank Yahweh for keeping us safe!

After taking a break, Freedom Walker decided to continue on. A snow plow had cleared and sanded the the side road that I would be driving on. The traffic was at a stand-still on the interstate, which made it safer for walking – and gave opportunity for much saluting – and some encounters.

As I drove on down the side road, I saw a couple of horses appearing to be enjoying the snow.