Vacations the Bad and the Ugly

I remember one thanksgiving holiday where I drove from Pennsylvania to Cleavland, OH. You can expect to have some weather issues that time of year, but when I left it was great. The roads were clear and it was a nice sunny day.

I was expecting to return on a certain day to get back for deer hunting season. It was the much anticipated first day. You dont want to miss the first day of deer season. No way.

When the day came to return home, one of the biggest snow storms you would ever want to see blew in and took us all by surprise.

I was determined to get back. I had my wife and two small children, but I was young and stupid you know. Nothing seemed to deter me in those days.

My mom packed us some food for the trip after giving in, not wanting me to take the trip. But I told her I would make it just fine.

I remember I had a Dodge Coronet with posi-trac rear-end. This would turn out to be very important as the day unfolded.

Normally it would only take about 3 hours to make the trip, but we soon realized it would be much longer.

All along the trip we saw dozens of cars spin out and get stuck. We kept going because I knew if we ever got stopped, we would not get moving again. One could only travel about 30mph, because of the roads were covered and the conditions were blizzard like.

The wind was strong and blowing the snow into us. It was very nerveracking to say the least.

The kids were asleep in the back seat, while the wife and I were worried if we would make it. I kept up my faith and determination. And with the help of that old Dodge, we kept going, seeing more and more cars stuck in drifts along the way.

The trip would prove to take 12 longs hours. I was very thankful that we had an old coffee can in the car, which I had to put to good use if you know what I mean. Remember there was no stopping. 12 hours is a long time to drive without any stops at all, but we did it.

We did make it home ok, but was it worth the risk to make the first day of hunting season. Now at age 54 I certainly dont think so, but at 25, I could not be stopped.

Only by the grace of God, that old Dodge, the coffee can and moms lunch did we make it home.

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