Winter Roads

This is actually the one time of year that living on a gravel road in the country does not seem as bad as other things, like living on a black-top road in the country - that would be worse. The advantage to gravel roads in the snow is that the gravel (by now frozen into the ground) gives some traction and unless there is a lot of unplowed snow on the road, your car doesn't slip around on the road. Black-top roads are another story. They are pretty much just paved gravel roads, no painted lines and no shoulder unless you count the small strip where the road crumbles away next to the deep ditch. These roads are more treacherous in winter weather because they are very slippery (which combined with ditches deep enough to fit a car are quite the winter threat!). In the Summer we usually try to avoid the gravel roads as much as possible. It wears the tires down, harbors nails and such, kicks up a lot of dust that gets into car parts, and last but not least, driving on a freshly graded and re-graveled road feels like you're driving on a road of marbles. In Winter, however, we try to stay on gravel as much as possible until we get to the highway (you know, the kind of road that's paved, painted, shouldered, plowed and salted). So for now gravel is the planned route, until the muddy roads of Spring come around. ;)

Yes, that's our gravel road this morning in the picture!