From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I left work with a little snow falling, and whizzed along my well-known path to home humming along with the music I was playing. I did notice the snow increasing; however, it was still good driving.
After I passed through the village of Bethany I encountered heavier snow, and then found myself completely stopped in a long line of brake lights weaving through the rolling hills ahead of me. I was still completely content, however, and after a few minutes decided to call home to let them know I would be later than planned.
The snow increased and the road became covered in icy slush; he traffic crawled slowly toward me from the west, and I started to see other cars turning around in our line-up and heading back. It appeared that large trucks were stuck in the hills.
After 35 minutes parked on the highway, I reluctantly made the decision to also turn around. Doing so was frightening, as the road was slippery and I had to do a three-point turn on a hill from which I could not see oncoming traffic.
I got turned around and, in consultation with my husband, picked a different somewhat hill-free route home. I moved slowly along the new, slippery and slushy route, and as I approached the only hill on the route traffic was again stopped behind a transport stuck at the crest of the hill. Having to turn around again, I felt hopelessly stranded 7 kilometers from home with no way to get there.
I drove back to the east of the village to a third route home. Once I returned east, I was surprised by completely different weather – the snow was only light with no slush or build up. I carefully drove the hilly back roads to home.
What this not-so-great introduction to this season’s winter driving made me think about was that sometimes the way forward is to turn around, backtrack a little to get your bearings, and then you find new a way to make it to your destination. Stay calm, there is always a way through.
It’s the decision to stop and turn around that is the hardest, and even it does not always turn out right, steady on with the long-game goal as guide no matter the route or hills you encounter.
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