I went to town after lunch today to check on my parents and get some fuel for the generators. It started snowing about an hour before I left home and snowed all the way to town and back, and it's still snowing. Anyway, as I was returning home I realized just how important a grab and go bag is, and that It's geared for the expected conditions. It's a 36 mile round trip when I go to town. It's not unusual to drive both ways and not see another vehicle on the road, especially in bad weather. On this trip it was snowing hard, 10 degs and visibility was poor. The visibility was so bad I ran off the road as I was coming around a corner. Fortunately I was able to get back on the road without much problem and continue on home.
The moral of this story is that my grab and go bag had my summer gear. I had neglected to swap my summer gear for my winter gear. Even though I had a heavy coat, hat and gloves with me, I never could have made it home in this weather on foot the way I was equipped.
I won't make that mistake again.