Cruisin'.......

January 2010


Greetings, from beautifully wooded, peacefully secluded, sometimes sunny, but mostly not, Petticoat Lake where the temperatures are warm, the sun is shining and as I write this, the highways are bare.   Really, the highways are bare.  In January.  In the UP.  How amazing is that?  It isn't often that we have bare roads in January, so last week  I made the most of the good driving conditions and hit the open road.  Oh yea, I set the cruise control at 55ish, cranked up the volume on the radio and drove for 2 and 1/2 hours without seeing a single snowplow, salt-truck, sand-truck or wrecker.   It was quite a ride.

Driving on bare roads using the cruise control may seem insignificant, but it sure was a nice break from the typical white-knuckle, winter weather drive in the UP; 45 mph on snow-packed, slushy and/or slippery highways, gusts of wind that rock the car from side to side as the snow swirls and whirls, creating endless, billowing white-outs that make one feel dizzy and disoriented and completely vulnerable to other vehicles operated by drivers who may also be dizzy and disoriented.  (There are drivers that don't feel vulnerable in zero visibility situations - one can easily spot them - they are usually talking on a cell phone while standing next to their car, which is either upside down on a snow bank or halfway down an embankment.)

During the next few days, the normal January winter weather will return to the UP and the current pleasant driving conditions will deteriorate.  Once again, we will face all the driving hazards that are typical for this time of year.  By Monday morning, the drive on bare roads will be a pleasant memory and it will be March, April or even May before I have the opportunity to use the cruise control again.  So, to all the Yoopers who will be driving in the UP for the next few months - drive safely.   And to all the Yoopers who will spend the next few months driving in warmer climates - gas in the UP is down to $1.49 per gallon.

And that’s all I have to say about that...