Normally I don't drive my rig on windy days. But I was doing it today, with the excuse being that I had a tail wind. A brown cloud was visible in the sky over towards the infamous Willcox AZ playa.
But I was already downwind of that, so why not keep going east to New Mexico? Soon there were the famous signs along Interstate-10 warning of "Zero Visibility Possible." I have seen these for many years, and always had a good chuckle over them.
The first indication of something unusual coming up were state police cars, with their lights flashing. Then the sky ahead looked murky -- but more of a dirty white color than the brown you would expect.
As traffic slowed, the semi-truck ahead of me looked 'weird.' I could see down the entire 'port' (left) side of it, even though I was directly behind, with no turns in the road. Apparently the wind from 'port' was 'quarter aft', and it caused the trailer of the semi-truck to blow into an angle that made it visible.
When traffic stopped, I started worrying about an open roof vent in my trailer. As I opened the driver's door in my van, that damn wind blew it out of my hand, and did some slight damage to the door.
In about 20 minutes traffic began moving again. In Lordsburg NM all west-bound Interstate 10 traffic to Tucson was being routed to the north.
One must give credit to the authorities for their efficiency and professionalism. Clearly they had been through this 'drill' before. Still, I can't help wondering whether they were being overly cautious. The adventure was becoming enjoyable, and the authorities were ruining it for us.
The slightest thing these days brings out a small army of 'first responders,' police, emergency personnel, the weather service, computers, and emergency warnings.
Gone are the days when people had to be brave, and force their way through real physical difficulties, by being resourceful and pulling together as a tribe.
But I was already downwind of that, so why not keep going east to New Mexico? Soon there were the famous signs along Interstate-10 warning of "Zero Visibility Possible." I have seen these for many years, and always had a good chuckle over them.
The first indication of something unusual coming up were state police cars, with their lights flashing. Then the sky ahead looked murky -- but more of a dirty white color than the brown you would expect.
As traffic slowed, the semi-truck ahead of me looked 'weird.' I could see down the entire 'port' (left) side of it, even though I was directly behind, with no turns in the road. Apparently the wind from 'port' was 'quarter aft', and it caused the trailer of the semi-truck to blow into an angle that made it visible.
When traffic stopped, I started worrying about an open roof vent in my trailer. As I opened the driver's door in my van, that damn wind blew it out of my hand, and did some slight damage to the door.
In about 20 minutes traffic began moving again. In Lordsburg NM all west-bound Interstate 10 traffic to Tucson was being routed to the north.
One must give credit to the authorities for their efficiency and professionalism. Clearly they had been through this 'drill' before. Still, I can't help wondering whether they were being overly cautious. The adventure was becoming enjoyable, and the authorities were ruining it for us.
The slightest thing these days brings out a small army of 'first responders,' police, emergency personnel, the weather service, computers, and emergency warnings.
Gone are the days when people had to be brave, and force their way through real physical difficulties, by being resourceful and pulling together as a tribe.
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