Peace of mind

Recently a first cousin of mine died of MS. We grew up in a farming area about a mile apart, which out in the county is right next door. My sister still lives in the area and was planning to go to the funeral. She was hoping I could come to the 10:30 a.m. funeral also so she would have some immediate family to sit with. I work the night shift usually getting home about 1:00 a.m. as long as the carpet cleaners aren't scheduled which makes it later. It would be about an hour and a half drive to the church, and we have had ice and snow recently. So I told her no guarantees, but I was hoping to be there depending on road conditions and how late I had to work the night before.

Everything worked out so my wife and I could go. On the way, the snow was beginning to drift across the highway. The last 3 inch snow had been a very dry snow so it was blowing easily. But the roads were dry and it was no problem. On the way home, however, it was a different story. It had warmed up just enough in the early afternoon that the snow was melting on the highway. As it melted, more snow blowing across began to stick and build up making a slushy icy mixture. As it began to cool off again and more traffic passed over it, the ruts in the slush got deeper and began to freeze. In some spots driving was rathertreacherous. It got bad enough that snow plows were beginning to come out again.

I had driven my Jeep Grand Cherokee to the funeral. As the roads got worse and worse, I wasn't really worried. I could just slow down, kick it into 4-wheel drive, and not have any real problems. It gave me a lot of peace of mind compared to if I were still driving the low-profile sporty car I used to have which would have been hitting bottom on some of the spots were we encountering. The only concern was other drivers who didn't have 4-wheel drive and were too stupid to slow down.

Four-wheel drive gives me a lot of peace of mind. And it is fun looking for snow to drive through instead of having to take the emergency snow routes where I know the snow plows have already gone.