Country Roads

We’ve always lived in the country and travelled on gravel roads. When I think of springtime, I also think of muddy roads. I remember my Dad navigating the muddy roads when I was a kid. He drove our truck or our big boat of a blue Ford car that weighed enough to plow down the roads weaving a trail. Back then the roads were not built up like they are now and possibly a little less gravel.

The roads didn’t go straight through a hill like they do now. The road would wind around a hill, and that could be tricky when muddy. Keeping the speed to get to the top was problematic when the tires were mired down in mud. You might slide into the ditch or only get part way up the road that went around the hill. Having said that though, that generation of drivers really knew how to drive. I remember observing a vigorous workout on that steering wheel and a confident, “hang on” until the vehicle was again on a straight path. We always made it home.

When I started driving, 897 secondary was still a gravel road. I was driving home from the Lloydminster Fair late one night in my small sporty vehicle called a Subaru Brat. If you’re familiar with the Brat, it had two seats in the cab, and two rear facing seats outside in the back cargo area. These seats were welded in, with handles, head rests, and seat belts. One of my sisters wanted to ride in the back so my husband agreed to sit in the other seat beside her. My youngest sister was my co-pilot in the cab. We didn’t get 10 minutes out of Lloydminster heading home and we hit the edge of a thunderstorm. I pulled over to stop so my outside passengers could get under cover in the cab, but the rain hit hard before I got stopped. Two drowned rats came quickly into my vehicle. We piled in like sardines! When we hit 897, I put it in 4WD and headed south. This fury of a thunderstorm had been there for some time already. The lightning flashed so close that I’m sure I heard a sizzle at one point. My little Brat just pushed on and it took a punishing ride heaving through ruts and pouring rain. When a vehicle passed us, we would be covered in muck and the wipers smeared it across the windshield. By the time we got home, my beautiful blue and white Brat trimmed with chrome finish was dripping in brown gumbo mud from top to bottom.

Those same years on 897 north and south (high traffic area), the dust would hang several feet high in the air straight down to the road. It was like driving into a wall with little visibility. We were so glad when 897 was paved.

When 619 was a gravel road, a small section of the road was built through a big slough in our area. In the springtime one year, the slough overflowed and covered the ditch. All you could see was this strip of road through the body of water. That was very intimidating! Later, that same week, water covered the road completely. We have seen a few roads like that over the years, with detour signs on them and rightly so. Unless you’re driving an amphibious vehicle, you might be calling for help underwater.

Fast forward to today; we have cell phones for emergencies; the roads are much better, in fact, there’s probably a decent graded and gravelled road all the way to pavement in any direction for you and for me. They are built up higher than they used to be that helps keep them clear during blowing snow. Roads are straight for the most part, going through hills instead of around, and although they can be slick and greasy, many of our vehicles are AWD or 4WD and that makes it easier to navigate those roadways. I wouldn’t trade places with anyone, I’ll take my country roads.

Country Roads, take me home, to the place I belong