In Reply to: Great story, Phil! Tell us more of them, please.* posted by wanabbruin on February 23, 2025 at 06:18:16
Back in the mid 60s, we were playing a base team game at Holloman AFB (White Sands area) in January. I was player/coach of the Walker AFB team at the time. We had driven there from Roswell (Walker AFB) in three cars and I had taken my wife and daughter (wife was pregnant for our second daughter) with us. On the way back to Roswell after the game, it was in the evening and we hit a bad snow storm in the mountain area near Ruidoso, NM. Couldn't drive more than about 20 mph on that hilly and curvy road. Hit a really slick spot on a sharp curve and the car started to skid side to side (only going about 5mph now). There was a 50 foot drop off on the side of the road (didn't know it at the time though as it was dark with heavy snowfall) and we were slowly sliding towards the side of the road with no way to stop. As we got to the side of the road and I thought we were going over the side (three players and my wife and daughter in the car with me driving) there was a gentle bump on the side of the car and we were bumped into a snowbank on the opposite side of the road. Got out and the side of the car was dented in but still drivable. Went over to see what we had hit and it was a safety road post, the only one in the area. Drove about 5 miles down the road to a gas station outside of Ruidoso and parked the car and caught a bus back to Roswell. In a couple of days after the snow storm cleared up, I had a friend drive me back to pick up my car. I was curious regarding the road post and I drove back up to the area where the road post was and drove about 4 or 5 miles back towards White Sands. No road posts anywhere on the many bad spots like where my car was stopped. Also drove in the opposite direction of the road post and there were none there either. There was only a single road post on that road (over a 10-15 mile very curvy and hilly stretch) and that's the one that stopped my car from sliding over what was a 50 foot drop off. I still cringe when I think about that incident. Had that single post not been there, and I'm not sure why it was there since there were no other ones on that road, I probably wouldn't be commenting on this forum. Another bit of proof that little things can make a big difference. But this one wasn't of my doing.