Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on the Roads

This past week, as cold temperatures and snow gripped much of the nation, I traveled from Michigan to Virginia. It felt akin to Disneyland’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, except it was real. I left snowy Michigan at a frigid -9 degrees and traveled to snowy Virginia, around 18 degrees (positively balmy). ?The harrowing parts of my Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride were the beginning and the end of my trip. ?

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Just starting out on snow-covered Michigan 131, I witnessed a truck spinning out of control in the opposite lanes and landing in the ditch. You know what I’m talking about, right? You see the vehicle coming your way, all is good, then it hits a patch of ice, starts careening wildly around, going sideways and traveling back and forth in the lanes before it slides into the ditch. Totally cattywampus. ?Thankfully it had slowed its speed substantially during the process. By the time it landed in the ditch, I only saw the truck quickly in my rear-view mirror. It was a memory that stayed with me all day long, though. Be careful. Be safe.

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In Indiana, my E-ZPass decided to take a vacation. Cars behind me wondering why I’m not moving through the gate. Honestly, I’m wondering too. Finally the toll road assistant spoke to me remotely, and she had no idea why it was not working – maybe the cold weather? Maybe. Maybe not. No idea. Regardless, the only way out is a credit card, but at least that machine did work.

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Then filling up my car in -9 degree weather was painful – truly, physically painful. Cold metal and high winds, and then add in the windchill factor. Painful. Note to self: make sure to pack work gloves next time.

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Then came the Ohio Turnpike, which was a breeze. My E-ZPass worked again (though I admit the fear of a gate not opening stayed with me the rest of the trip!). The roads were clear and well-treated. Awesome.

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Then came the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where Mother Nature ruled again. As it began to snow, I suddenly realized it had been a few years since I had traveled the turnpikes under snowy conditions. Oops. A bit of initial panic set in, and then calmness reigned again. I grew up in Michigan where driving wintery roads under all types of bad conditions was the norm. My dad's voice clearly drifted back to me and lodged firmly in my mind, "Find a safe spot and test your brakes, see if it's icy, see how your car handles." Driving in Michigan, we were taught to always know how our brakes would perform on the bad, winter roads before we needed to use them in an emergency. I kept testing and testing…and testing.

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So with my dad’s words in my mind, and lots of safe testing along the way, plus using all my Michigan and Upstate New York and Chicago winter driving experiences, I relaxed a tiny bit as I continued my trip. Just a bit, though. After more hours of travel, I left the snowy but well-treated Pennsylvania Turnpike and turned to smaller and smaller less-traveled roads in Maryland and Virginia. I drove alongside salt trucks, fast semis (seemingly sneaking up out of nowhere), and all types of cars and trucks whose drivers had varying driving abilities and speeds. It made for a trip with precious few moments of "easy" driving.

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Then came Route 15 in Maryland and Virginia. It had clearly been plowed earlier, before I passed through, but when I began to travel along 15 much was left to the driver's imagination. “Where exactly IS the road? If I had to decide where the centerline is (and I did), then where would I say it is? Where is the shoulder? The ditch?” I had slowed down, along with most other drivers, to 30 MPH, traveling steadily onward amidst the softly falling snow. It was breathtakingly beautiful. In many portions it was also incredibly peaceful in those hours close to midnight. Every mile was also seriously stressful. Test the brakes. Remember that truck this morning. Test the brakes.

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Then came the Virginia suburbs, where the plowing looked very different from that on the turnpikes. Time to navigate all the medium-sized “snow trails” crossing the main roads at all the intersections, left from the snowplows as they cleared the cross roads. It felt sort of like skiing down a hill and hitting snow bumps. But I was still traveling 30 MPH, so I chose to see it as more fun than hassle.

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I arrived home safely, tired from my constant vigilance of road conditions and other traffic as I drove for almost 12 hours. Thank goodness for my friends who were checking traffic and weather reports to help me understand if I was ahead of, inside of, or just behind the storm.

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The pictures in this post are from Michigan, near the Indiana border, playing with the camera, trying to capture the beauty of the snowfall this past weekend. Taken in -9 degree weather, with me excitedly telling my friend as we drove around, “Oh, can you stop and back up please?!! I saw a scene back there that I want to capture!” And then hopping out of the truck, trying to find the right angle, lighting conditions, and composition of sky and landscape. I finally had to give up because my hands were almost frozen, but I do love the pictures. I hope you do, too.

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Feel free to share any winter pictures you love or to share any Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride trips you have taken. And always, no matter where or when you travel, be safe. ?