I’m so glad you went out to at least try and capture a sunset. That looks like a great location!
Focusing in on the fog was a great decision. Shoot what’s there. Embrace the situation. For me, down here in West Virginia when it’s mostly rainy instead of snowy winter, I am not trying to shoot amazing winterscapes; they don’t exist so I’m not discouraged that I’m not getting any. Instead, I’m shooting what is around; shooting whatever sparks my interest in the setting that God does provide.
And to be honest, I think the presence of fog makes your shots a whole lot more interesting than if there was no fog. Notice that in all your pictures the horizon is dead center. In 8609, you don’t need all that featureless sky. Explore textures/shapes/patterns in the road. The headlights add a point of interest to me; zoom in and see if you could incorporate them into a composition.
8614z has quite a bit more contrast than 8614x; I can almost start to see some color in the sky. I would have pointed the camera down more, cropping out the blank portion of the sky above and found a prominent tuft of grass or something for the foreground. It’s something I was trying to do on a recent photoshoot under conditions that seemed quite similar to yours.
