Video Game Driving--LOL!
Ha! So I'm back again! So I went to the MOARC conference--Missouri Association of RV Parks and Campground for those of you that aren't "in the biz." It was actually a lot of fun! Now, we did have a few breakout sessions on things like worker's comp that were a little, shall we say, less than entertaining? But every minute of every day can't be a carnival...lol! So, had a GREAT time...now it's time to drive home. Now...keep in mind that the hubby had to travel on business with his other job, so he is not along on this trip. So I'm traveling solo... So I pack up the ole' Toyota (not one of the models with the sticking accelerator, so don't get alarmed!), and off we go on the back country roads toward home. Now, the conference was in Jefferson City, Missouri--so starting out, I'm on NICE, 4-lane highway. Listening to the satellite radio, jammin' to some tunes--awesome road trip has begun! Left around 5:45 p.m., so it is just beginning to get dark. No problem. Rain has been forecast, but who cares? I have tunes, I have a truck, I have RV park info, I am...INVINCIBLE!!!Okay, now I am on MO Hwy. 63. Still a nice road, but now a 2-lane. That REALLY black blacktop? You know the stuff. It begins to drizzle. I now realize--I am in DESPERATE need of new windshield wipers! Oh well...still have AWESOME tunes, truck, and RV park info. No problem. However, drizzle is creating weird film on windshield (since wipers don't work worth beans!), and now have terrible glare whenever vehicle comes from other way...OR when headlights hit a roadsign and light bounces back to windshield. But I'm okay...
Well, folks...here's where I "leveled up" in this here Driving Video Game. I decided to call it Driving Rural Missouri--The Challenge. So--I passed the "Drizzle and Glare" level... So it began to rain harder...now that I have reached the Hwy. 8 section of my drive. Now if any of you are familiar with Hwy. 8--it is a narrower, VERY windy road--but still really nice BLACK blacktop. But it winds up through the mountains, so there is often a nice dropoff on one side of the road--just HAPPENED to be the side I was driving on--LOL! So this is the "Sheets of Rain and Dropoff" level. So now it is almost impossible to see in front of you--until a car comes (don't forget--this brings back the windshield glare from the previous level!)...and you can't pull off the road to wait out the rain--because there's no shoulder! So...I'm just about to wish for a lightning strike or something (at least it would be some light--lol!)...when I level up again--woo hoo! Now we have the "Pockets of Fog" level. So now, while driving in the sheets of rain, with the glare and the dropoffs and the windy road and I can't see a BLASTED thing--now I come upon random pockets of DENSE fog! Holy schmoly!!! Seriously???
So--now I turn on Hwy. 49--yeah! (Because those of you who know 49 know at least it is an older road, and it's the lighter-colored gray pavement--MAYBE I'll be able to see?) So I continue at my speedy 30 to 35 mph down the middle of the yellow line (yes, because that was all I could see on Hwy 8--lol!). Now--we still have ALL the elements from the previous levels, so let's review...glare on windshield, really dark outside (but lighter pavement), sheets of driving rain, and even larger pockets of fog now. And nowhere to pull off...so as I'm contemplating if I will live to see another day...I unknowingly level up (there's no little "Congratulations!" that pops up in this video game, folks!)--and two DEER run in front of my truck!!! Will there be no one alive to run Big Creek RV Park tomorrow? Luckily, the nimble creatures continue across--must have been a temporary hazard--and I continue to inch my way across 49...praying for a miracle...I finally reach Lesterville...yes! A place I know! Only 15 minutes from home!
And the game magically ends! You WON'T believe it--EVERYTHING ended!!! No more rain, or fog, or deer, or glare...it ALL ended. The rest of the drive was COMPLETELY uneventful. So--my drive of 2 1/2 hours became 4 hours and 15 minutes. Go figure...
But...later it seemed kinda hilarious that all those things would happen in one night...and I left OUT the fact that I am a person who is perpetually lost, so I made at LEAST three wrong turns in there in the midst of all that...LOL! So I guess the moral of the story today, boys and girls...well, I guess I don't have one! Have a great day! And don't get lost... :) Patty
