It's a good thing I like road trips...

[gerisullivan]

...'cause this one just keeps getting longer.

So far, most of this road trip has been in the dark. That's due to the season and other things that needed and wanted doing during the days. Thanks to winter weather, it took me 8 hours to drive last 335 miles of the day's 500 mile drive to my sister's house in Lansing, MI. I got here at 3am.

Yes, I could have stopped at another motel for the night, and budget considerations weren't the thing that kept me from doing that. Rather, it was a welcome reminder that yes, I know how to drive in and on this stuff. I hesitate to say I enjoyed it -- it's far from the sort of driving I enjoy. But I did welcome the comfortable confidence of feeling reasonably safe will I continued moving down the road through freezing rain, snow, partially-plowed and unplowed roads, slowing as needed, speeding up (somewhat) when I could. There was also the advantage that there were very few cars and trucks on the road at that hour, in those conditions, which meant I was a far less risk from people who don't have winter driving sensibilities.

All of that said, I'd just as soon things eased up now, and it doesn't look like they're going to. I can either stay where I am and get iced in for several days, or I can slip into a couple of things that look like breaks between storms and perhaps get far enough north before the ice hits Michigan and Chicago, before 7-11 inches of snow fall on Madison, WI, starting Thursday afternoon.

I pushed myself hard last night, knowing I only had to get to Chicago today, and could then turn driving over to Jack for the trip to Minneapolis. Only now he's not able to come after all. I'll miss his company as well as the driving relief.

I considered driving the extra 125 miles north over the Mackinaw Bridge and through the backroads of the U.P. and Wisconsin, so as to avoid the worst parts of the next "car" in the "train of storms" crossing the country, but have decided to stick with the plan that has me seeing my Dad in a few hours and Jack tonight. Fingers crossed that the last 850 or so....

(Yes, I should have taken the shorter route through Canada yesterday. The fact that I didn't is a reflection of how much I've grown to hate crossing international borders, especially when doing so doesn't involve an actual visit there. The time savings can oh, so easily be eaten up by border hassles, and the annoyance factor of those hassles is far, far greater than the annoyance factor of driving an extra 100 miles...even in a storm.)

So. Onward. That's the plan, anyway.

Comments

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I've seen a stronger critique of the fiasco that our border crossings have become than your willingness to drive 100 miles through an icestorm to avoid one. Stay safe!

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

Wave when you go by Madison! If the weather is terrible, please consider calling us for a place to (not) crash! six zero eight four two three four six nine zero.

Hot chocolate with irish creme...

[sraun]

far less risk from people who don't have winter driving sensibilities

Someone came up with a great description - those people have water soluble driving skills.

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

I hope your road is clear and safe. Enjoy Illinois in all of its Blagishness. :-)

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It feels especially true since I grew up in Michigan and loved crossing the border between the US and Canada all of my adult life...until 4 years ago. I've had a total of 3 annoying crossings since -- one in 2004 and two on the same trip in 2007. That's nothing, really, not compared to what they could have been doing all those years, including the ones before 9/11. But the whole computer seizure nonsense is way too intimidating, and I positively hate them searching my car in ways that don't allow me to witness what they're doing, and I went through that both ways on the 2007 Minneapolis-Winnipeg trip.

It's basically a matter that a lifelong trust I had is now broken. Maybe it was a misplaced trust in the first place, but I treasured having it, and I mourn its loss all the time, not just when I'm driving an extra 100 miles through a winter storm in the middle of the night.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Your number is now in my cell phone.

It looks like the next storm is starting up about 2 hours later than originally expected. That's good news for this "not a morning person doesn't begin to cover it" human.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Grin. That is good.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

From your mouth to God's ear. The road from Battle Creek to Chicago was clear and safe as you were typing! Thank you!

I shall go raise the Blagishness threshold here at Jack's. That should be entertaining.