Imagine a 50mph crosswind!
I forgot to tell you about the drive across route 50 from Ely, NV to Delta, UT. It was one of those terrible windy, gusty days. Minnie didn’t like the wind trying to blow her off the road so she suggested I drive more towards the middle of the road to give her more margin from the shoulder. I checked traffic front and back and there was no one for as far as I could see. In fact, we met nary another vehicle for many miles along that desolate section.
Driving in the middle of the road is an unnatural thing to do. It goes against everything we have been taught. It’s like sitting at a stoplight in the middle of the night when you can see nothing coming for a mile each way. But driving in the middle of the road actually helped keep Minnie from being blown towards the edge of the pavement and getting punished by that annoying vibration of the edge rumble-strip. In the center the crown of the road helped Minnie lean into the wind some and straddling the center warning rumble-strip was easier that trying to stay away from it. I must have driven 20 miles down the center of the road until I started to hit some hills that blocked a little of the wind.
Does it seem like I’m talking about Minnie and Honda like they were real beings? Some said I talked to Wilson while I was hiking the AT, too. But I’m not going to admit to it! Maybe I’ve been out-land by myself for too long.
Note: I don’t recommend or ever try to drive in bad weather at all. I thought the wind would be out of the west and helping me along. Every time I have tried that theory it never works – the wind is always a crosswind!
That’s how I drove the mountain road through Mt. Ranier Natl Park. 😀
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