Rain at last. It felt strange, like I was experiencing it for the first time. Seriously I couldn't remember the last time it rained more than a sprinkle or two. I was acting like a house cat who is let outside for the first time, after a half inch of snow. What about driving to town in this crazy stuff?
People who live in cities and towns take 'road' and 'pavement' as synonymous. Rain and dirt roads are frustrating and even a bit scary. Try driving around Moab UT sometime after a rain. The road looks like red sandstone, but it isn't; it has some clay mixed in.
You can't judge the firmness of wet ground just by looking out the windshield. It is better to have a pair of rubber-soled boots and jump out of the vehicle frequently to probe the ground.
In olden times mud must have caused more 'cabin fever' than snow and hard-frozen ground. Spring must have been a terrible season. Our ancestors must have looked forward to May more than anything in the year.
But the roads weren't muddy where I was camped. They were well-graveled, and what a difference that makes! There is more to making a high-quality gravel road than slapping down the gravel. I found a good source on the internet that was basically 'Gravel Roads 101.'
Any topic can become interesting to you when you have a need and there is a problem to solve!
What a relief it was to drive to town and start realizing I wasn't going to get stuck or slide off the road. We should envy our ancestors, who experienced material progress more drastic and beneficial than the trivial kind we experience. (How excited do you get about the latest iPhone or updated version of the Android operating system?)
Of all the benefactors of the human condition in the 1800s, gravel roads must be near the top of the list, along with canned food and window screens. And guess what? Those things are also quite noticeable to a camper.
Of course the world of business (and You Tube) would rather we make an 'adventure' out of wet roads by spending as much money as possible, in the most ostentatious manner possible; meaning 4WD equipment. I prefer the opposite approach. That is what this post was trying to do.
Comments