A Beautiful, Treacherous, Winter Morning In Bismarck-Mandan

Wow, the drive to work this morning was a beautiful one. When I was driving at around 7:45 on I-94 over the Missouri River, the city looked like a picture in a Christmas storybook. The sun was hardly trying to rise, the lights of houses and vehicles lit the way, and the snow falling gave everything a holiday touch. It was stunning.

But that beautiful drive was a treacherous one. You know how it goes, snow hits and everyone forgets how to drive. One should not be rushing in wet, snowy weather. Yeah, it sucks being late to work, but it's better late than never. (Ok, two cliches in one paragraph are more than enough).

It's terrifying to drive at high speeds in the winter, in a city, around other vehicles. And I learned how to drive in this type of weather. It was particularly scary on the cloverleaf exit to Mandan, going toward Memorial Highway from I-94. On that exit, I saw a small car had run right off the road, down to the bottom of the very deep ditch. You can bet I slowed down another 10 miles-per-hour after that sight.

Thankfully, that was the worst incident I saw (and there appeared to be no injuries). Nonetheless, I did witness some terrible drivers in action. People weren't staying in their lanes, some were speeding up and slamming their brakes, and others were paying more attention to their phones that the road.

The point is, the weather is a bit rough today. So, instead of rushing around, be a little extra cautious, slow the drive down, and enjoy the scenery around you today. Plus, the weekend's here, and no on wants to ruin that with an accident.