NEBRASKA CITY – A Minnesota mayor navigated ice, wind and blowing snow in a 32-foot motor home through South Dakota and Iowa before reaching the Sapp Brothers Truck Stop near Nebraska City.

The trip from Shelly, Minn., to Nebraska City is seven hours according to Google, but it took Ron Cakebread 24 hours and counting.

He encountered ice in South Dakota and stayed overnight in a parking lot. He set out again on a hunting trip to Texas, only to encounter another storm. This time there was blowing snow, a covered Interstate highway and many vehicles in the ditch to remind him of the treacherous conditions.

 

 

Cakebread: “South Dakota was bad. We broke out of it for a couple of hours . Then we had a detour an hour east, north of Council Bluffs. That was enough time for this storm to hit and shut us down.”

He said "slow and careful" is the best driving advice for anyone on the roadways, especially in a motor home.

Cakebread: “I’ve just been doing it for a long time. Mostly, go slow.”

He said dismal visibility, gusty winds and slippery roads made him yearn to return home to Shelly, Minn., which averages 42 inches of snow per year. As he digs in to wait the storm out, he offers this advice for travelers.

Cakebread:  “Boy I wouldn’t be out if you don’t have to be.”

A winter weather advisory remains in effect until 6 p.m. today for portions of southwest Iowa and southeast Nebraska.