Snow and Danger in March

Yep, it's Friday afternoon and it's snowing as I type this post. I can't really blame this on climate change. It's not unusual for the Midwest to get snow into March and April. However, these aren't flakes, but clumps, which usually means the falling snow won't last long.

The danger part is unusual. I'll be heading down to West Virginia to check on my cousin at the end of the month. From there, I'll drive down to DC to see my sister, then spend a week in North Carolina visiting friends.

That's where it gets weird. Nearly every friend has extolled me to be super careful driving through NC. They worry about me driving through the state as a woman alone.

I've done countless roadtrips by my lonesome. I've been to NC by myself before, and never worried.

But this time? Yea, I'm taking their warnings seriously.

It's nothing personally against NC.  It's because of my last trip back in October to see my cousin.

Depending on the route I take, I drive through small sections of Pennsylvania and Maryland in addition to Ohio and WV. In October, I had just passed through Delaware, Ohio, on my way home. But that time I was driving GK's Challenger because my car was in the shop for repairs (I had been sideswiped by a teenager in town).

Anyway, a couple of guys in a pickup swerved into my lane. No biggie, right? Except they tried to run me off the road two more times. I looked over, and the men were laughing. At me. And the sun was setting.

There's a long stretch of fairly straight road before we reached the U.S. 30 interchange. No one else was around us except for some traffic a mile behind us. The pickup started to swerve again. So, I punched the accelerator.

Now, I'm usually very careful about my speed between Delaware and home because Ohio state troopers patrol pretty heavily along this highway.

I could hear the pickup's engine above the growl of the Challenger. These guys were actually trying to chase me. Any ticket would be worth getting away from these jerks.

Except the chase lasted less than 30 seconds. A horrendous noise came from the pickup. If you've ever heard an engine throw a rod, you know what I'm talking about.

I kept going, glancing in my rearview mirror until they were out of sight. Only then did I feel safe enough to slow down. I look at the speedometer. I was going well over a hundred. I took my foot off the accelerator until I reached the speed limit.

I'm thankful I was okay. I'm thankful no one else was on that stretch of highway who might have been hurt. And I believe karma stepped in that night.

So, yeah, it's not just the people in NC I need to watch out for. I honestly don't get why people get their kicks from terrorizing, or attempting to terrorize total strangers.

However, DH installed a dashcam on my car in case I run into more careless or crazy drivers. The video is automatically sent to DH's phone, so no matter what happens, he'll know about it.

Cameras are everywhere these kids. You can't get away with stuff anymore unless you're a billionaire asshole.