Arizona Driver

I have been pretty lucky while I have been in Utah this week. While it has snowed on several occasions, our daily trips to and from Provo for my mom's treatments have been on dry roads. The weathermen had forecast a storm for this afternoon but as we left Payson and headed north at 2:00 we both commented on how clear the roads were and wondered where the storm was. We reached the medical building and my mom went in for her radiation and I quickly settled in to work on "my" puzzle.
There was a gentleman in the waiting room talking to someone on his cell phone. He was inquiring how much snow there was at this unseen individuals home. After hearing the answer to the question he responded, "Well, I don't think we'll be coming up. Your mom doesn't drive in snow and I don't drive with someone screaming in my car." At that point he looked out the window and said, "We're definitely not coming. It's snowing here." At first I thought perhaps he was telling a fib to make not coming more acceptable until I looked out the window and sure enough the snow was already gathering on the parking lot outside.
My mom finished radiation and we went upstairs to get her chemo pump removed and by then all the nurses were beginning to worry if they were going to be able to get home when they got off work at 5:00. We left the building at about 3:30 and there was probably a good 2 to 3 inches on the parking lot. I told mom to stay right there by the door and I would bring the car around. I got in the car and took a while figuring out how to get the front and rear windshield wipers to work and the defrost to blow. The side windows were covered with snow and I couldn't see a snow brush so I decided to revert to a trick my son and I use when the van windows are all fogged up when I take him to marching band at 6:00 in the morning. You just roll the window down and then roll it back up and all the condensation is gone. It's magic! I rolled the window down and it worked quite well except for the lap full of snow that I ended up with. By the time I got back to my mom I think she was wondering where I had gone.
I drove white knuckled, between 15 and 25 mph, even on the freeway, all the way back to Spanish Fork.


I told my mom that I wished I had an "Arizona Driver" sign to hang on the back of her car so the other drivers would give me a little more room. Most of the cars weren't moving any faster than we were, but every once in a while I'd get someone who wanted to test his snow tires or see how well his insurance paid out claims who'd get right on my tail and want me to go faster.
We stopped at ShopKo in Spanish Fork to pick up a prescription for my mom. I was in the store about 5 minutes and came out to a car covered in snow again. This time when I rolled the window down I stopped before the snow fell in though. I'm a quick learner. However when I turned on the wipers, the snow was frozen to them and nothing I tried, the defrost, window washer fluid, making the wipers go faster seemed to get it to move. Instead of wiping the windshield they pretty much smeared water all over the windshield, especially right where my line of vision was. I switched from sitting up extra tall to slumping way down all the rest of the way home so I could see where I was going. I was very happy when we finally pulled into my mom's garage and wouldn't you know it, I looked out the window when we got inside and it had stopped snowing.

Today I am thankful for

the person who invented windshield wipers.
a warm coat.
a break for my mom from doctor trips, radiation and the chemo pump - at least for 2 days.