Stuck in snowdrift... what would you have done?

I planned for such a thing, as I intended to drive through that area during my holiday travel to see family. I ended up taking a different route because most roads in New Mexico were closed, but I still brought an ample supply of water, a couple days worth of food, a snow shovel, a zero degree sleeping bag, and I had my cell phone reporting my location every minute or so when I had cell service. I also drove a very capable 4x4 vehicle, but that's a more difficult detail to change just for a winter trip. :)

All of that planning is a good idea, but better than that would be to monitor the weather and road conditions closely, and stay home if it looks bad. NMDOT and CDOT publish state road conditions on easy to use sites like nmroads.com and cotrip.org. They're absolutely necessary information for travel in this area during winter. If there's a blizzard warning posted for the area (and there was), its a VERY BAD IDEA to try to travel in remote areas like north eastern New Mexico. The distance between towns is quite large, and that area is pretty prone to blowing snow.

I've never been in that situation, and hope I never will be, but I would certainly hope I would had the presence of mind to keep a path clear so I could be seen and get out of the vehicle. If you're traveling that part of the country in the winter without planning for being stuck in the snow, then you're being incredibly foolish. Just a bit of common sense goes a long ways.

I would have tried to keep some kind of pathway clear. This does mean loss of heat as a door is opened, and use of calories to do work.

I would have tried to have some kind of bright orange flag / blanket symbol tied down and cleared to help people find us.

I always ask my family to carry plenty of water, food, and blankets when they travel. They laugh at me. We live in the UK, and one motorway was closed for more than a day by a few centimetres of snow. (Really, less than 2 inches.)

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/2738538/Pass...)

Set a timer so I would go out every hour to try to get the snow off at least part of the car so it didn't get totally entombed like that.

I would not have let my cellphone die. Charging it off the car should keep it alive for days.