This walk down memory lane is a fairly recent one. It's just a post I forgot about and decided I still needed to write about before the memory becomes dull and forgotten. Do you ever wonder why your husband does some of the crazy things he does? One of the things that Brad does that drives me absolutely nuts, but of course all our children LOVE it, is what he calls "crazy driving". Every time we get in the car with him, Sundays included, my kids will clamor "Dad, Dad crazy drive!" Now, to give him credit, Brad is a safe driver and would never do anything that he feels would put the family in danger. So the only place he "crazy drives" is down our mile long dirt road (which very few ever travel since we're the only house up here). His favorite corner to whip the back end of our suburban around is this one here. You can't see the road past the trees because it curves around passing over a small bridge that fords the creek on the property. To the left you can kind of see the pond. It's frozen in the winter.
So a few weekends ago, probably about a month back, we are on our way to Kenzie's basketball when Brad receives the request to crazy drive. It has been months since Brad has given our children this special treat as the road has been covered on and off with snow for most of the winter. By this time most of the snow had melted so Brad decided to give it a go. Coming up to his favorite corner though he misjudged his terrain (being somewhat slushy) and slid off the road going a speed of about 45 mph.
On the majority of the road this would not even be the slightest bit of a problem because it is surround by flat prairie. But here, at his favorite spot to whip the back end around, there are some trouble spots. Like this grove of trees.
Oh, and all those bushes.
Not to mention the fact that just beyond that thicket there is a stream and a little to the left a ten foot deep pond that could also wreak havoc if we landed there. My heart raced and my surprised children started shrieking as Brad tried to gain control (and avoid those trees which would definitely do some damage). We went crashing through the bushes, hopped over a felled tree and stopped just inches short from the bank of the creek. The first thing out of some of my children's mouths were, "THAT WAS SO COOL DAD!!!! CAN YOU DO IT AGAIN?" These cries of enthusiasm were quickly extinguished by me as I explained what had just happened and that we were lucky no one was injured as none of us had even put on our seatbelts yet. Brad made no attempt to defend the attacks I made on his stupidity. After a brief once-over to assess the condition of our vehicle, Brad concluded that this experience had just given us all a good scare as he backed out and continued on his way to the basketball game. Upon arriving home he was able inspect the suburban more closely. He found this:
It's one of our front shocks. He broke it right in two. Good thing Brad's Grandpa was a mechanic or his crazy antics of the day might have cost him more than just an afternoon and $50 to replace the part.
I'd like to say that Brad has learned his lesson and there will be no more "crazy driving" henceforth and forever, but knowing my husband I'm not sure I can say that is true. He'll probably just outlaw it on slushy roads from now on.
That's just a little scary. How nice is that you have all that space though?!
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