(no subject)
Jan. 14th, 2009 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mereilinWe set out on a bright winter afternoon to see the Kinzua Viaduct, one of the marvels of the 19th century. About five years ago a series of tornadoes destroyed part of the bridge, and since I have a son who's fascinated with engineering and disasters -- and since the viaduct is around 30 minutes from my parents' place -- we decided to take part of the afternoon and visit.
We missed an important turn, but since we saw signs pointing us to the Kinzua Dam we kept driving -- I had no idea how far apart the two were. We had fun looking at the dam, but still wanted to see the viaduct. A quick look at the map at the visitor's center showed a scenic road that followed the river back to the place we should have been all along.
What we didn't realize was that "scenic" means "little to no winter maintenance." The first half mile was clear and dry, so when we encountered the first icy patch we rolled carefully over it and continued. After another 500 feet or so of clear pavement there was another icy patch. I slowed the van to a crawl and proceeded down the narrow, tree-lined road, past a campground and down a small hill, and then up another, larger hill. Halfway up, it became apparent that we weren't going to make it.
Turning around was out of the question. The entire roadway was covered with ice; it was just wide enough for two vehicles to pass and the shoulders dropped off sharply. To the left, a spindly guardrail was the only thing between our minivan and a steep, wooded gully.
About the only good side to the situation was that we were unlikely to encounter any other cars, so I took a deep breath and put the van in reverse. Slowly, slowly I backed down the hill.
In the back the kids were bored, and Sadie had launched into her most annoying whine. It was hard to ignore them, and harder to ignore the rising panic I felt as we inched down the hill in reverse, but we managed to back up safely to the campground entrance where I could finally turn around and crawl the van out of the ice and back to the highway.
"Sadie," I said through gritted teeth as the whining continued unabated. "Could you please stop making that noise? I just want everyone to be safe."
"We ARE safe," she retorted.
Oh, yeah. Right.
We missed an important turn, but since we saw signs pointing us to the Kinzua Dam we kept driving -- I had no idea how far apart the two were. We had fun looking at the dam, but still wanted to see the viaduct. A quick look at the map at the visitor's center showed a scenic road that followed the river back to the place we should have been all along.
What we didn't realize was that "scenic" means "little to no winter maintenance." The first half mile was clear and dry, so when we encountered the first icy patch we rolled carefully over it and continued. After another 500 feet or so of clear pavement there was another icy patch. I slowed the van to a crawl and proceeded down the narrow, tree-lined road, past a campground and down a small hill, and then up another, larger hill. Halfway up, it became apparent that we weren't going to make it.
Turning around was out of the question. The entire roadway was covered with ice; it was just wide enough for two vehicles to pass and the shoulders dropped off sharply. To the left, a spindly guardrail was the only thing between our minivan and a steep, wooded gully.
About the only good side to the situation was that we were unlikely to encounter any other cars, so I took a deep breath and put the van in reverse. Slowly, slowly I backed down the hill.
In the back the kids were bored, and Sadie had launched into her most annoying whine. It was hard to ignore them, and harder to ignore the rising panic I felt as we inched down the hill in reverse, but we managed to back up safely to the campground entrance where I could finally turn around and crawl the van out of the ice and back to the highway.
"Sadie," I said through gritted teeth as the whining continued unabated. "Could you please stop making that noise? I just want everyone to be safe."
"We ARE safe," she retorted.
Oh, yeah. Right.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-14 08:08 pm (UTC)Did you know that the first man-made canal in the country was in Dedham? I'm not sure how accessible it is, though. If memory serves it's on Bussey Street in East Dedham.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 04:40 pm (UTC)And yes, we're definitely going back in the summer. The actual viaduct is really within 45 minutes of my folks' house.
And I did not know that canal fact. That's pretty cool. There's so much to see and learn, who has time for school? ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-01-15 07:27 pm (UTC)