Let's see. The last time I wrote, I had just gotten back from a girls basketball game, during which somebody hit my car while it was parked along the street. On Friday morning, I went around for estimates: about $2,500. I've got comprehensive on my auto insurance policy, so it won't come out of pocket. Michigan is a "no-fault" state, anyway.
But it happened on Thursday night, and on Friday and Saturday, I had to cover two important football games out of town. With a major (and unusually early) snowstorm about to arrive. And with my car at less than peak condition. Oh well. I dressed very warm, got in the car and drove west.
The snow wasn't fallling too hard for the first half of the trip Friday. But then, as I got closer to Lake Superior, it got worse and heavier. But I got to town before sundown and immediately went to look at the football field. I arrived just as the crew was about to start clearing the gridiron with plows, with the snow blowing merrily all around ...
I went off to the Dairy Queen for some supper (seeing some fans who didn't believe I--or they--would make it). Then, back to the field. It was darker now, and here's what it looked like from where I parked ...
That's all snow in the air, folks.
The plows were still working ...
But there still were big piles of snow around the field ...
That's the visiting team's grandstand.
I went inside, and of all things, there was somebody cooking hamburgers outdoors, with several inches of snow on the top of his grill. Of course, this deserved a photo ...
And if you turned 90 degrees to your right, here is what you saw ...
Then the game started. It was snowing pretty hard during the first half ...
In the second half, the snow backed off for a while ...
The cheerleaders made it to the game. But more fans than this made the 100-mile trip--it was halftime, and some of them had gone off to visit
Burger Man and get some coffee.
Anyway, the girls were dressed for the occasion ...
The game ended, and our team suffered a rare loss. I did my interviews and then got in my car. After all, I had to get home so I could hit the road again Saturday morning.
But it was still snowing hard. There was very little traffic. That's a good thing and a bad thing. It was good in that I didn't have to worry about too many other drivers trying to cope (like I was) with their first snowy drive of winter. It's bad because not too many vehicles were on the road, laying tracks on the highway. And without tracks, the road is very hard to follow. All you folks in warmer climes don't know what you're missing.
I'm used to driving in conditions like this, having lived up here for so long, but it still makes my neck, shoulders and back stiff. It's quite a tense situation, you know? And I'm by myself. And it's a long, long, long trip home. And it's only October!!!!!!
Of course, no highway crews were out. In the 80-mile trip home, I did not see a single plow truck. Not even one. And I hasten to add that this is a drive through a very remote area, where cell phones are just dead weight in your pocket.
But I finally got home ... and the next morning, I had to hit the road again. David was coming with me, and we were going north, to the Copper Country.
Here's something else I wanted to tell you about the trip home. All the road signs were snowed over--snow was sticking to the surfaces, so they were impossible to read. If I hadn't been fairly familiar with the trip ... but I was.
Here is a traffic sign I saw on our trip north Saturday morning. Sure you can figure out what it is now, in daylight. But what if it had been in the middle of the night, with snow falling all around?
The snow had stopped by this time, and the only problem was slush on the road for a few miles. But the results of the storm were all around us. Here are a few snowy shots I took along the way ...
See the snow-covered autumn leaves?
That looks like a nice road to walk down.
This time no snow was falling, and the roads were clear. Remember those snowy football pictures I posted last time? Same two teams as before, but conditions were much different this time ...
In fact, the sun was out for most of the game. And our team won, which is always nice.
My little car survived both long trips without a problem. It's a good car. At least it's a good one for me.
So this is my first chance to tell you about it. Monday, after work, my wife wanted to watch a movie with me. Tuesday, we drove off to visit my mom. Tonight, I'm at home, watching the baseball playoffs. That's as ambitious as I want to get tonight.
Thursday, I've got girls basketball, but that's in town. Friday, I've got football, but it's in the neighboring town and the weather is supposed to behave.
After my adventure last Friday night (yes, Friday the 13th), I'll settle for that.
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