In the grand scheme of things, I haven’t been driving that long. I got my license when I was 19 due to a number of irritating factors that really aren’t worth going into now. I also have only driven in North Carolina, for the most part, so I haven’t had much experience driving in Winter Weather. Winter Weather usually shuts the entire state down for a day or two. We are weak.
I’ve only driven in snow once, for example. And really it wasn’t that bad of a storm, just a couple of inches. I didn’t know what to do, though, so I just pulled over at the overpasses when I started getting too nervous. That was the day of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, so I listened to news reports of people who had more problems than me to distract myself from the fact that I really had no idea if I was supposed to slow down or if I could go the same speed limit and oh dear lord there’s an eighteen-wheeler bearing down on me time to pull over to the side of the road again.
That was nothing compared to the Stupidest Thing I Have Ever Done. Go back with me to the misty days of early 2003. It was February, right around Valentine’s Day. I went to an anti-war rally in Raleigh with a friend of mine that weekend and we had a good time and felt like we were actually Making A Difference. Then I drove 70 miles further on and visited another, more complicated, friend. The next day I was going to drive 225 miles back to my parent’s house. I did not check the weather before I headed out the door. This will forevermore be known as Mistake #1.
Why was this such a notable mistake? Well, there was a huge ice storm moving across the mountains that would completely lock up the entire state. Had I checked the weather, I wouldn’t have gone out in it. I would have been stuck at my friend’s place for a couple of days, but I would have been safer doing what I ended up doing–driving all the way through it.
I first noticed that my wipers were icing up just outside of Raleigh. A smart person would have turned around and gone back to where she came from, staying just ahead of the storm. (Mistake #2) A smart person would have remembered that Rally Friend lived near Raleigh and would have turned toward her house and holed up there for a couple of days. (Mistake #3) I was not a smart person. I went through Raleigh and got on I-40. I found the tire tracks on the road and stayed in them, going 25 mph. I soon realized what a stupid thing I was doing, but I was committed–turning around would have meant a skid (a guy in front of me skidded right off the interstate when I was contemplating this. Obviously my logical brain did not make the trip with me).
So here I am: driving down I-40/I-85 in a nasty ice storm, going 25 mph (30 when I felt like living dangerously), wondering if I was going to make it to my parents’ house. Then I remembered: my sisters lived up here! I couldn’t remember how to get to one sister’s house from where I was so that narrowed it down to my Oldest Sister, who lived very close to the highway. Also, she lived near Winston-Salem, which was 40 miles closer and meant I wouldn’t have to risk the nightmarish I-85 interchange. I told myself “I am going to make it so I can see my oldest nephew. I will not wreck, skid, or otherwise get hurt. I have to make it for him.” (I used to take care of my oldest nephew when he was a baby. Since I don’t have kids of my own, I’ve claimed him as mine.)
Eight hours after I first started the Stupidest Journey I’ve Ever Taken, I knocked on my oldest sister’s door. This was before I had a cell phone, so she had no idea I was coming. “I was heading back from Greenville after going to the rally this weekend and I got caught in the storm and can I stay here tonight because I can’t make it back home?” “Of course!” she said. My nephew was thrilled to see me. I was thrilled to be off the road. My dad was glad I called and told him where I was.
The snowplows and slag trucks worked through the night (all eight of them–this is the south) and by morning the highways were clear. I hopped back in my car and finished my journey.
Since then, I have ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS checked the weather before I make a long trip. I have a cell phone. And I like to think I’ve acquired some good common sense in the intervening five years. As the Car Talk guys say at the end of every show: “Don’t drive like SpazCat in 2003.”
