Ok, now this may have just been a really stupid thing to do, but the genius that I am, I decided to drive up to Columbus and back in the middle of a blizzard (literally, there was a blizzard warning). For those of you who aren’t aware of where I live and how stupid a choice this was, I live in Oxford, Ohio which is a small town located between Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio and is about 2 hours southwest of Columbus (on a good day), about half this driving is on back-roads through the country-side, which is all well and good, except for when it snows. Basically, I was driving in the middle of a blizzard both ways, on ridiculously winding roads not fit to drive on in clear-weather (which hadn’t been cleared) with 4-foot drifts and 5-foot ditches on both sides of the tiny 2-lane roads.
Now, this was all well and good in day-light, but I was even smarter when I made the decision to drive back home in the dark (still blizzarding) at 3am.
Ok, let me back-up for just a second before I continue. There is a reason forthis trip, I was invited to concert by a cousin of mine, who is just now getting into the music business as a concert promoter, she told me she was working on a show in Ohio and wanted me to meet a few people and hang out. This is all well and good, as I rarely get to see her and I’m big into the music side of the industry, so I said “Sure!” not expecting there to be a blizzard the day of the show (then again, neither was she). So, I went to the show, which was great fun (though somewhat sparse when it comes to attendance, a blizzard will do that), but I enjoyed it and meet some great new people. With that said, the 2-hour drive quickly turned into a 4-hour drive (one way) since I was rather forced to drive a great deal slower than usual as a result of not being able to tell where the snow ended and the freeway began. At one point (around 3:30am) I just started guessing where the side of the freeways were judging by where all the abandoned cars and jack-knifed semis lay covered in 3-feet of snow. This is one of those times when you get that creepy feeling, it’s pitch-black out, snow blowing your car all over the place, you’re on a major 6-lane freeway that is completely deserted, and all you pass are dozens of abandoned vehicles, all dark, half-covered in drifting snow, and all you’re trying to do is not become one of them. Now, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it, I love snow, and I love driving in it even more. Where some people a rush from roller-coasters, I get the same thing from driving in a blizzard in the middle of the night, I just love it! With that said, I only went off the road twice on the trip and to my chagrin, didn’t hit anything, didn’t break anything, and didn’t get stuck, but I guess that should probably be attributed to the fact that I’ve been driving in snow since I first got my license (having first lived in Michigan will do that to you). Anyhow, it was all I could do to stop from laughing when I was driving the last few miles and came across some of the first snow-trucks I’d seen all day/night, and get this, they had slid off the road and were stuck in the ditch. Here I was wondering why none of these roads had been touched all day and why I hadn’t seen a single snow-plow and here I go passing 4 of them, 2 suck in a ditch (literally in the same place) and 2-more sliding around trying to pull the first two out! So I calmly passed them (though just barely, this was that same 2-lane road) and made it back safe and sound at around 4:30am. Now, it may have been a dumb decision on my part, having decided to go knowing the weather forecast, but I honestly have to say, it was one of the funnest day’s I’ve had in while. (and yes, I’m still pulling ice out of my engine-block)
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