The perils of road trips

Page 25

Road trips are always fun, and in a way scary. You see my vehicle is not a trusty, hardy started despite German engineering. My 1976 Volkswagen Rabbit proved itself on this trip though, wrapping the odometer back to 000 on the winter road between the end of Highway 881 and Lac la Biche.

So, I thought triumphantly, the Bunny has 100,000 miles on its frame. Then second thoughts began to creep in. Many 'what ifs' plagued my mind as I careened along the road, which was a serpentine path cut straight through the bush, pocked with craters that tested the Bunny's undercarriage more than once. The trees, which were thick enough to block out the sun, loomed menacingly on each side of the road.

Occasionally a gravel truck would roar out of the turns and seem to totally block the road, always sending a chill of fear up my spine as I gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity. Somehow, with the help of some supernatural entity, we managed to squeeze by each other. I always pictured the trucker guffawing to himself, knowing he had struck the fear of God into me, or scratching his head wondering what a little yellow German job is doing way out here in the boonies.

It was a rash decision, now that I look back on it. But the days on the road made me weary and tired of my own company and I just couldn't imagine driving back up Secondary Road 881 to get to Highway 63, wide and paved.

Even going to Fort McMurray was not without its hazards, as I had to navigate through a blizzard, rivaling one I drove through recently in southern Alberta.

The Bunny never once went off the road in either storm despite the white wall it faced; visibility was just a few feet though I am tempted to describe it in inches, especially when rigs and semi-trailers blew past me, impatient with my creeping sped of 60 miles an hour.

Indeed the risks f the road are many and varied and a road trip is not without an adventure.

But believe me, it was all worth it when I spoke to people, who now appear here, immortalized in Windspeaker. Their warmth intelligence and sincerity were infectious and, indeed, drove me to the next interview.

Would I take that treacherous winter road again? Yes, but first I have to get my vehicle (and my head) examined.