Well, I live in Montana.. it snows, we have big mountains.. we like to ski. A friend dropped in for Christmas from Maryland, so it was decided that I would take him skiing. We planned it for the Sunday after Christmas.. well, Christmas day the blower motor on my heater burnt up. No heat. No defrosters.
Sunday morning, in the middle of a blizzard, we started on our trek.. can't see, slightly chilled, and a can of De-icer being sprayed onto the windshield to help visibility.
The trip up wasn't so much fun.. frankly, it sucked. But we made it without incident, and had a GREAT time skiing.. for once, it was over 0 degrees at the hill.
The trip home wasn't so much fun.. the windows had all iced up, and I couldn't see. All I knew was that to my left, the road ended in a long drop off, and the right had a big field.. "Hey, where *IS* that road?" .... "Uh.. hmm.. .. GO LEFT GO LEFT!" Too late. Apparently, I had been plowing snow off in the field to the right of the winding ski road for about 30 feet or so.. and when I finally started turning out, I had amassed such a large pile of snow, that even Scout couldn't make it out.. (also, note that I didn't have my foot in the gas.. I didn't know what was in front of me..). Okay, we're wedged in good. Just back up! Wrong. 3-ton Scouts work great in very loose snow.. they just sink until the wheels find solid ground.. Well, I sank.. until the FRAME RAILS found very packed snow/ice. Ooops. One Scout, high centered in a snow field..
A minivan came by a little later, and tried to tug me out.. no luck. It took.. (as I swallow my pride) a newer Toyota 4-runner to tug my mighty Scout from the snow.. and even it had a hard time of it.
Moral of this story? Maybe it's time for a LIFT KIT, and a Limited Slip or some other type of traction aiding devices.. or perhaps a big ol' winch to get myself out.. Better yet, I'll just do all three! (Hmm.. where can I make the $$$...)
-Tom
1-8-97