Winter travel
09/02/14 04:42
Folks who know me know that I tend to rant from time to time, so here is a rant to begin the morning:
Yesterday we drove home from Red Lodge, Montana. There were about 3 inches of new snow in Red Lodge and it was snowing as we left. Visibility was reduced due to falling and blowing snow for the first 60 or so miles of our trip. At Billings, there were a couple of inches of new snow. It kept snowing as we drove down through Hardin, past the Little Bighorn Battlefield site and across the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations. The snow had stopped by the time we stopped for lunch at Broadus. After lunch, we continued across the northwestern corner of Wyoming and into Belle Fourche. There was perhaps a half inch of snow as we got to Spearfish, where we encountered our first dangerously slippery roads of the trip. It was a slow drive from Spearfish to Rapid City, where the streets were slick and slushy. The warmest weather we encountered in the day was about 12 degrees F.
That’s right. It was way too cold for slush on the road. The slippery, dangerous conditions were caused by the salt that the highway department put on the roads.
After having driven several hundred miles on snow packed and sanded roads, it was very difficult for me to understand why South Dakotans choose to make their roads so hard to drive by comparison.
If I had my way, they would require every South Dakota Road engineer to make a driving trip across Montana once every winter. They really ought to know how hard they make it to drive.
It wasn’t hard to notice that while driving in Montana, we didn’t need to use windshield washer fluid to wash the snow off of our windshield. We also noticed that the cars were clean and free from salt on the exterior. Our salty South Dakota car really stood out in a Montana parking lot or at a gas station.
I have heard that the reason that so much salt is used in South Dakota is that it costs less to use than sand. While that seems incredible to me, I’m pretty sure they are not factoring in the salt damage to all of the cars. And I know from reading the newspaper that the city has to spend funds defending itself form lawsuits over trees killed by the salt that is applied to the roads. One wonders how much less expensive it really is. All too often spending the least amount of money today can lead to spending more over a period of several years. It is only by not counting the total costs that the illusion of cost savings appears.
End of rant. Sorry for those who have heard it all before.
Here is what is more interesting than the above rant.
Despite my complaints, we were able to have a wonderful trip in the middle of the winter and do so safely. We drove a little over 900 miles, most of it on US highways (not Interstate) starting out in -13 weather and driving when it was as cold as -18. Overnight temperatures the first night were in the -25 range. Our car started easily and dependably without having to be plugged in. Our travel was comfortable. Even though we thought that we would never need heated seats, they are a wonderful luxury in a cold car on a below-zero day.
The freedom of travel that we have enjoyed during our adult lives is known to only a small portion of the world’s citizens and was largely unknown to our grandparents’ generation. There are plenty of folks who would find the kind of travel that we just did to be an impossible challenge. And the truth is that we have multiple vehicles that could make such a trip safely.
My complaints about the little things fade in the face of the tremendous luxury of travel that we experience.
The trip was to attend the opening of an art show featuring work by Susan’s sister. She is an accomplished artist who does a lot of batik and has an incredible eye and technique for the ways of dying cloth in beautiful patterns. There were also acrylic paintings that she had done. The gallery also had a small area where artwork by her son was displayed. It was a wonderful event and Susan was able to be with her sisters for the day on Friday and celebrate her birthday over breakfast yesterday morning.
All that and we are home for church today. As I say, not bad!
When we first began our ministry in a small town in North Dakota, I used to say that we had to leave town to get a day off. That is a little less true here in Rapid City, where our home is 10 miles from the church and in another 10 miles I can be out on the lake when temperatures are higher or hiking, and cross country skiing when the weather conditions are different. It is really quite possible to get a day off here without leaving town. But I’m not very disciplined about taking my day off. There are all sorts of work-related items that are easy to do and not dependent upon what day of the week they occur. So I will do a few work-related tasks on my day off. Maintaining a rigid boundary between work and home isn’t always desirable. And there are good reasons to work on a day off. The schedule of members of a grieving family when arranging a funeral is far more important than which day I take off each week. The opportunity to visit someone who is in the hospital or who is facing a life-changing event doesn’t always present itself with respect for pre-arranged days off.
So it is good, from time to time, to plan for a little break. Our trip this week was just that. A treat in the middle of a busy season in the life of the church. We visited friends and family and renewed our spirits for the challenges that lie ahead.
Life is good and we are indeed fortunate. Thanks be to God!
Yesterday we drove home from Red Lodge, Montana. There were about 3 inches of new snow in Red Lodge and it was snowing as we left. Visibility was reduced due to falling and blowing snow for the first 60 or so miles of our trip. At Billings, there were a couple of inches of new snow. It kept snowing as we drove down through Hardin, past the Little Bighorn Battlefield site and across the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations. The snow had stopped by the time we stopped for lunch at Broadus. After lunch, we continued across the northwestern corner of Wyoming and into Belle Fourche. There was perhaps a half inch of snow as we got to Spearfish, where we encountered our first dangerously slippery roads of the trip. It was a slow drive from Spearfish to Rapid City, where the streets were slick and slushy. The warmest weather we encountered in the day was about 12 degrees F.
That’s right. It was way too cold for slush on the road. The slippery, dangerous conditions were caused by the salt that the highway department put on the roads.
After having driven several hundred miles on snow packed and sanded roads, it was very difficult for me to understand why South Dakotans choose to make their roads so hard to drive by comparison.
If I had my way, they would require every South Dakota Road engineer to make a driving trip across Montana once every winter. They really ought to know how hard they make it to drive.
It wasn’t hard to notice that while driving in Montana, we didn’t need to use windshield washer fluid to wash the snow off of our windshield. We also noticed that the cars were clean and free from salt on the exterior. Our salty South Dakota car really stood out in a Montana parking lot or at a gas station.
I have heard that the reason that so much salt is used in South Dakota is that it costs less to use than sand. While that seems incredible to me, I’m pretty sure they are not factoring in the salt damage to all of the cars. And I know from reading the newspaper that the city has to spend funds defending itself form lawsuits over trees killed by the salt that is applied to the roads. One wonders how much less expensive it really is. All too often spending the least amount of money today can lead to spending more over a period of several years. It is only by not counting the total costs that the illusion of cost savings appears.
End of rant. Sorry for those who have heard it all before.
Here is what is more interesting than the above rant.
Despite my complaints, we were able to have a wonderful trip in the middle of the winter and do so safely. We drove a little over 900 miles, most of it on US highways (not Interstate) starting out in -13 weather and driving when it was as cold as -18. Overnight temperatures the first night were in the -25 range. Our car started easily and dependably without having to be plugged in. Our travel was comfortable. Even though we thought that we would never need heated seats, they are a wonderful luxury in a cold car on a below-zero day.
The freedom of travel that we have enjoyed during our adult lives is known to only a small portion of the world’s citizens and was largely unknown to our grandparents’ generation. There are plenty of folks who would find the kind of travel that we just did to be an impossible challenge. And the truth is that we have multiple vehicles that could make such a trip safely.
My complaints about the little things fade in the face of the tremendous luxury of travel that we experience.
The trip was to attend the opening of an art show featuring work by Susan’s sister. She is an accomplished artist who does a lot of batik and has an incredible eye and technique for the ways of dying cloth in beautiful patterns. There were also acrylic paintings that she had done. The gallery also had a small area where artwork by her son was displayed. It was a wonderful event and Susan was able to be with her sisters for the day on Friday and celebrate her birthday over breakfast yesterday morning.
All that and we are home for church today. As I say, not bad!
When we first began our ministry in a small town in North Dakota, I used to say that we had to leave town to get a day off. That is a little less true here in Rapid City, where our home is 10 miles from the church and in another 10 miles I can be out on the lake when temperatures are higher or hiking, and cross country skiing when the weather conditions are different. It is really quite possible to get a day off here without leaving town. But I’m not very disciplined about taking my day off. There are all sorts of work-related items that are easy to do and not dependent upon what day of the week they occur. So I will do a few work-related tasks on my day off. Maintaining a rigid boundary between work and home isn’t always desirable. And there are good reasons to work on a day off. The schedule of members of a grieving family when arranging a funeral is far more important than which day I take off each week. The opportunity to visit someone who is in the hospital or who is facing a life-changing event doesn’t always present itself with respect for pre-arranged days off.
So it is good, from time to time, to plan for a little break. Our trip this week was just that. A treat in the middle of a busy season in the life of the church. We visited friends and family and renewed our spirits for the challenges that lie ahead.
Life is good and we are indeed fortunate. Thanks be to God!