Easy -- Week #30

Easy -- like Sunday morning!

Winter can bring on some extreme weather in many regions around the world. Here in Idaho it is 20 degrees outside and an icy blanket of frost blankets the frozen ground. Looking out my window at this frosty landscape got me thinking.

Tell me...

What is the most extreme place you have ever visited?

Of all the places I have visited in my life, the memories of driving through Death Valley in California stay with me, even 40 years later. It was during a family vacation, and I don't recall exactly where it was we were heading, I just remember seeing the barren landscape whizzing by the car window and hearing my parents talking about the trials of early settlers and pioneers who ended up traveling across the land during the days of the gold rush. It was so hot we had to rent an air conditioner that mounted on the passenger window of the car; it was not advisable to use the cars air conditioner because the danger of overheating the engine posed a threat to our safety. In those days, very few people traveled through Death Valley and had the engine overheated we could have been stranded in the 120 plus degree heat for hours.

It was so hot that day...my step-dad stopped long enough for us to stick our hands out the window and I remember feeling like my hand was literally on fire!  Sitting there, I imagined what it would be like if the car stalled and refused to start and  I feared we might be stuck there in the broiling heat for days!  I think we all feared that; because when my step-dad put the car back into drive and the vehicle lurched forward, I could feel the profound sense of relief overcome every member of my family.  We were all very glad to be moving through that desert once again.



Graphic by Pats Web Graphics