Hi Gram,
I just can’t get enough of this wonderful life! I woke up a touch sore after our hike yesterday and had a little bit of a brain fog, but I’m finding that when I have good, understanding friends around me the brain fog isn’t as stressful. I caught up on some tasks on the computer, did my brain exercises, then had breakfast with Mark. After breakfast I read my book for a while, then Mark and I decided to drive up into the mountains again. I asked if we could take my car and let it feel life un-paved.

Now, I have a Subaru Outback that I really enjoy. There are lots of things that make me happy about owning this car. First of all, I’ve wanted one for a very long time – like twenty five years or more. I remember reading about them and wanting one when I was shopping for a car in the mid-90’s. One morning, I woke up and it had been snowing all night. In a moment of clarity, I rushed over to the Subaru dealership to test drive one of these all wheel drive dreams in the snow. Luckily for me, the salesperson understood my motivation and we headed right out to a school parking lot to put it through the paces. She had me park right in the middle of the lot, far from any obstacles, and turn the wheel all the way to one side. With the wheel set, I pressed the accelerator and the car spun in a circle, centered on the back seat. We weren’t doing donuts, we were just spinning in a perfect circle! After that, we drove around the lot and felt the grip of the tires, the correction of the AWD, and the quick stop of the anti-lock brakes. I was in LOVE! As we were getting ready to head back to the dealership we saw the plow driver, ready to clear the lot, patiently sitting off to one side with a smile on his face waiting for me to finish playing. I couldn’t afford to actually buy the car back then, but I swore to myself that someday…

Second, technology has come a long way in the past 25+ years since I first drove one. My car has adaptive cruise control, lane centering, Apple carplay, keyless entry, push-button start, and so many other cool features. The adaptive cruise control keeps it a safe distance from the car in front of me on the highway by matching speed. Cool feature, but you could do without it, right? That’s what I thought too for so many years but here’s the thing – it lowers my anxiety and stress in traffic by a magnitude that I couldn’t have imagined. I use it just about every day that I drive. It eliminates the thousands of adjustments to speed up or slow down, keeps me from getting aggravated with someone who’s going to slow, and lets me pay attention to other details around me. The lane centering is nice because it helps to keep the car in my lane whether I’m going around a curve or just driving in a straight line for eternity through Nebraska. Carplay lets me display Google Maps on the console, play podcasts and music, and listen to text messages while keeping my eyes on the road. The push-button start and keyless entry just make me feel like I’m living in the future as my car recognizes me. These all add up to letting me pay attention to the world and traffic around me and make for a safer driving experience, which takes me to the third benefit.

Safety. The car just feels safe. In addition to all of the above, the car feels sure-footed and has all kinds of sensors that warn me when the car in front of me slams on their brakes (and hits the brakes for me), or if someone is walking behind me when I’m in reverse, or shows me that a car is in my blind spot. Not only do I feel safer, I have anecdotal evidence that the safety features actually put their features where their marketing is. My friend was driving her Subaru last year when the car in front of her slammed on the brakes to do an illegal U-turn on the interstate. When she hit her brakes to keep from hitting him, a semi that was following too closely slammed into the back of her, pushing her sideways into the next lane where another semi smashed into her and roller her off the highway. The car was totaled and she got some whiplash and other affects but walked away from the accident. The car crumpled around her, absorbing the impact, and cushioning her as best as it could with the airbags and seatbelt. She was so grateful for the safety, she immediately went out and bought the exact same car!

Anyways, I digress. I love my Subaru but I’ve always driven it on the highway and paved roads. The car is built with a higher clearance, all wheel drive, and other features built for taking it off onto dirt roads and into the mountains, and I wanted to give it that opportunity. Mark had a great route in mind to let me introduce my car to dirt and rocks without going overboard with boulders or landslides. We followed a path through town and up into the mountains that led from pavement to a smooth dirt road, then to a dirt road with some ruts and bumps, then to gravel and rock.

We actually expected the road to be a little rougher than we experienced, but it seemed to have been graded and smoothed out a little in the past few weeks. It was still bumpy for a while, led to deep dust that left a huge cloud of dust behind us, and had some narrow lanes where we had to edge to one side as a car coming the other direction did the same so we could pass one another. After a few miles of this, we found a spot where the road widened and pulled off onto a flat rocky area. Mark knew the road would keep narrowing as we approached a snow plug and we wouldn’t be able to turn around if we drove much further.

We got out and walked the last mile, watching cars pass us despite warnings that they wouldn’t get through. We rounded the last corner to see the snow plug across the road and drifts of snow and ice off to the side. A group of spectators had gathered around the snow plug, cheering people on as they made runs at the snow plug with everything from four wheel drive trucks to low rider sedans.

Well, the sedans never actually made a run at the snow, but they were lined up with hopes in their hearts – until they realized that making an eighteen point turn on a narrow dirt road with a sheer rock face on one side and a severe drop off on the other would be more successful than trying to drive across a pile of soft snow half as tall as their car. The trucks with clearance and four or all wheel drive took turns as the would back up, make a run at it, and slide through the snow pile, digging the ruts deeper for the next truck as spectators cheered them on. We walked past them and on to Emerald Lake, a fun lake wrapped by peaks all around and a carpet of trees.

Some families were lounging by the waterfront with picnics and fishing poles while others hiked past on their way to another destination or positioned themselves for the best Instagram photo.

I continued to marvel at the grand, beautiful scenery around us speckled with optimistic flowers showing their colors and weather worn rocks, placed and shaped over thousands of years. In the background, we saw a few of the remaining snow piles with ski tracks, evidence of the “never summer” attitude of dedicated skiers determined to ski every day of the year.

On our way back we saw that more people had gathered, some with shovels, with a determination to knock down the pile of snow and make it passable for everyone. The ruts were still too deep for the average car and we commented that they would be more successful digging out the high center that undercarriages were getting stuck on rather than filling in the ruts with loose soft snow. We weren’t the ones with the shovels, though, so we let them keep plugging away at their work as we strolled by. After stopping to chat with a few more cars to let them know about the snow plug and helping one car get turned around, we got back to my Subaru and headed back down the mountain.

We stopped for Mark to check on some family stuff, where he told me some of the history of the area. We had a sit on an old ski chair with a magnificent view before heading into town for lunch. We ate at The Eldo Brewery with a second story patio that gave us a chance to watch the bustling activity on Main Street below. I love these mountain towns with their Main Street lined with shops and restaurants, where it seems the locals stop to say hi to one another and life just moves at a slower pace.