I wanted to give you an update on our move to Alaska. I flew to Fairbanks Tuesday, March 25th to do some house shopping. After a bumpy ride into Alaska, I was greeted by two awe-inspiring and amazing phenomenons. The first was the beautiful Northern Lights dancing in the sky. The second was the crystallizing of my nose hairs that happens when the temperature get down 2 degrees. It is a strange feeling. I can’t really explain it. You would have to experience it yourself.
When it gets cold in Fairbanks (such as 2 degrees), people plug their cars into outlets to keep the oil pan from freezing. Since I was renting a car, the rental company told me that I would have to be responsible for plugging in the car. They suggested that it was a good idea to unplug the car before driving off. I thought to myself, “This is a good idea. Note to self, unplug car.” Of course, my first reaction should have been, “What? It gets so cold that you have to plug in your car? Hello. Fairbanks School District, I resign.” However, my common sense did not kick in. I smiling took the keys from customer service rep and walked out to my rental car, a Subaru Forrester AWD. On a side note, in Fairbanks, most people who drive Subaru’s have a collage of bumper stickers that say things like, “Co-exist (with many different religious symbols)” or, “Save the whales.” Or “Save the trees” or “Save the trees and the whales.” So, immediately after starting the car (and, yes, I unplugged it) I felt a compelling urge to find a tree and hug it.
I began my drive to the hotel with a warm feeling in my heart. Ahhhh. I am in Alaska, my future home! If I knew the state song, I would have probably sung it. Now to the point of this paragraph, during the winter time in Fairbanks, city crews do not clean snow off the streets on a regular basis. So, there was quite a bit of snow on the main roads and a lot of snow on the side roads. So, I began to practice my winter weather driving skills. Not that I ever had any, but I decided it was high time for me to develop some. So, I drove 25 MPH in a 50 MPH zone. This was a good start.
My skills were put to the test today. We have had about four inches of snow since this morning. Now remember, the city crews to not clean the streets regularly, so the snow is piling up. As I was driving down a hill, I decided my rate of speed was too fast for the upcoming curve. So, I began to brake and I down shifted at the same time. Bad idea! The car began to skid and spin. I thought to myself, “Turn into the skid. Turn into the skid.” However, what my brain said and what I did were two different things. The skid became worse. By this time I was saying, “Jesus, I need you now. Thank you, Jesus, for not letting me hit those trees.” I was finally able to regain control and stop the car. If my knees had not been so weak, I would have jumped out of the car and gone to hug one of those trees!
When it gets cold in Fairbanks (such as 2 degrees), people plug their cars into outlets to keep the oil pan from freezing. Since I was renting a car, the rental company told me that I would have to be responsible for plugging in the car. They suggested that it was a good idea to unplug the car before driving off. I thought to myself, “This is a good idea. Note to self, unplug car.” Of course, my first reaction should have been, “What? It gets so cold that you have to plug in your car? Hello. Fairbanks School District, I resign.” However, my common sense did not kick in. I smiling took the keys from customer service rep and walked out to my rental car, a Subaru Forrester AWD. On a side note, in Fairbanks, most people who drive Subaru’s have a collage of bumper stickers that say things like, “Co-exist (with many different religious symbols)” or, “Save the whales.” Or “Save the trees” or “Save the trees and the whales.” So, immediately after starting the car (and, yes, I unplugged it) I felt a compelling urge to find a tree and hug it.
I began my drive to the hotel with a warm feeling in my heart. Ahhhh. I am in Alaska, my future home! If I knew the state song, I would have probably sung it. Now to the point of this paragraph, during the winter time in Fairbanks, city crews do not clean snow off the streets on a regular basis. So, there was quite a bit of snow on the main roads and a lot of snow on the side roads. So, I began to practice my winter weather driving skills. Not that I ever had any, but I decided it was high time for me to develop some. So, I drove 25 MPH in a 50 MPH zone. This was a good start.
My skills were put to the test today. We have had about four inches of snow since this morning. Now remember, the city crews to not clean the streets regularly, so the snow is piling up. As I was driving down a hill, I decided my rate of speed was too fast for the upcoming curve. So, I began to brake and I down shifted at the same time. Bad idea! The car began to skid and spin. I thought to myself, “Turn into the skid. Turn into the skid.” However, what my brain said and what I did were two different things. The skid became worse. By this time I was saying, “Jesus, I need you now. Thank you, Jesus, for not letting me hit those trees.” I was finally able to regain control and stop the car. If my knees had not been so weak, I would have jumped out of the car and gone to hug one of those trees!
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