Shellacked
Bowling Green, OH, December 2008
About this photo: We're winding down our "turning colder" theme, but it's not too late to share your own. Just go here and dive in. Looking ahead, the new theme will launch later today - at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Our new theme, "savor", comes to us courtesy of Kalei's Best Friend.We were on the first night of a long drive toward a warmer, sunnier place. We were originally supposed to leave the next morning, but an approaching ice storm prompted us to quickly finish loading the car and hit the road at midnight, four hours earlier than planned.
For the first couple of hours of the drive, we counted our lucky stars. In fact, the kids could actually see the stars because the sky was so clear. We relaxed as we crossed the border, pleased that we had seemingly skirted the storm. Everyone (well, except for me) fell asleep as we cruised past Detroit in the early, early morning darkness.
The moment we crossed the border into Ohio, the first snowflake hit the windshield. Now, I'm Canadian, so winter driving doesn't normally scare me. I'm used to it, and over the years I've learned how to adjust my driving style to the changing weather. Respect the environment around you and you'll be fine.
Well, that one snowflake soon turned into a raging ice storm. The road disappeared into a slushy, icy, snowy mass. The wipers barely kept up. I wasn't worried about my own driving, but the ignorance of those around me soon had me gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly for comfort. By the time we hit Bowling Green, Ohio - skater Scott Hamilton's hometown and a strangely traditional road trip stop for us - I was ready to call it a night. We pulled into a motel and tucked the munchkins safely into bed.
The world had turned to ice by morning. So while the kids stared out the window with wonder in their eyes, I headed to the parking lot to calculate how long it would take to hack back into our now-ice-encrusted wondervan. Luckily it wasn't that bad, so I had a few extra minutes to record the moment with my camera before heading back in for breakfast in the middle of a frozen wonderland. Our kids still speak of this day, and still see Bowling Green as a friendly oasis far from home.
Your turn: Do you have a special place far from home? What makes it special?
