Date:         Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:10:23 -0500
Reply-To:     mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject:      camper in the snow
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed; delsp=no

Drove my '91 GL Campmobile (Westy to most folks) to Texas and back to
Edmond, Oklahoma, 23 December - 26 December.  I have Kumho 857 tires
(the ones someone on the list ridiculed as "trailer tires," though they
are in fact not, but are heavy duty tires intended for both drive and
steering wheels on trucks and buses).

The van did great in up to six inches of snow, and on wet ice.  I was
pretty pleased.  Of course, I drove for conditions, which included
brutal winds at times.  We were not in the sixty mile per hour winds
with extremely heavy snow that did occur in parts of Oklahoma and Texas
on Christmas Eve, however.  My brother was, in a Mercury sedan (tires
unknown to me), but he got stuck for four hours, with whiteout at times,
on the interstate east of Abilene.  He finally made it safely to his
destination.  The winds we drove in around Dallas were up to 40 mph.

Though the van did very well, I would have preferred to have snow tires
for peace of mind.

Got back to Edmond to find that the city has been unable to cope with
the fourteen inches of snow and heavy drifts, and most streets are still
snow  and ice clogged.

I was in Dallas during the storm.  The city experienced its first white
christmas since 1926, with about 3 inches.

David McNeely