Tales from the Road

I guess that because I didn't drive for nearly 10 years that I could have been driving that the universe has decided to make it up to me by putting me in all kinds of stressful driving situations that most people get to have all spread out. Last fall I had to drive over Vail Pass in a blizzard in a honda civic hybrid with no snow tires. Two weeks ago I got rear-ended. Yesterday I had to drive down to the economically depressed hot flat plains southeast part of the state (3.5 hours each way. Woo.) and on my way home I got stuck in the worst weather I've ever even been in a car for, let alone driven in - super high winds, lightning, thunder, sideways giant rain, hail, the Little Prius getting blown around and my visibility at about 4-5 feet. I was driving in a 65 zone on a two-lane highway (one lane in each direction, divided by the dashed white line) and going 25-30 and navigating by watching the white line at the side of the road.

It took 45 minutes to go 19 miles because of the standing water, hydroplaning, low visibility, getting blown around, etc. I thought I was going to die. Then, 10 minutes after I got out of the worst of it, I heard on the radio "Oh, this just in. Severe weather warning for xyz county and these areas" and I was like "It would have been NICE TO HEAR ABOUT IT BEFORE I DROVE THROUGH IT, YOU POO HEADS."

I thought one near-death experience should have been enough for one day (on the way there, I almost got forced off the road by a semi that unexpectedly swerved into my lane - and who would have won THAT pissing contest? not the Little Prius, that's for sure). I guess I should just count on having every other possible stressful situation happen in the next year or two, since I'm obviously making up for lost time.

On the way back after I could see again I stopped for gas and found this new product that I now lurve and cannot eat because it has way too many calories (York peppermint patty cookies!) and I sped up the back way home. It's a little lonely out on the eastern prairie but it's pretty after a rainstorm and you sure can drive fast when there's no other cars for 30 minutes at a stretch. Next time I'll make sure they give me a car that has a CD player because, as Hulk posted about recently, the radio sux.