Hi Jim,
On Wednesday (July 21st) I drove 90 miles down I-17 to Phoenix to have a enclosed shell “cap” installed on the bed of my pickup. “No big deal; the cap arrived early, and I should be to town and back by mid-afternoon….” …so I thought!
The trip to town was easy, and the installation went smoothly.
On the ride home I stopped for a gigantic Coca-Cola (one of my little habits).
As I left the north side of the Phoenix metro area, an electronic highway sign said “Car fire – ten miles, I-17 North closed.” Okay … since I didn’t know how long it had been in effect, I drove on; and right into a 3-4 mile traffic backup. Dang. Caught in traffic, I had plenty of opportunity to listen to the radio, call friends on the cell phone, and think/rethink what I’d done. Several folks were using various cut-across roads to turn around (the one’s we’re not really ‘supposed to use unless we’re an “Authorized Vehicles”), but I poked along.
At New River (Arizona) the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS)–Arizona’s version of a highway patrol–was shunting vehicles off the interstate. I figured they were routing car’s through New River and back on to I-17 a couple miles North. Nope. The DPS officer advised that unless your were a “local” New River was clogged with car’s an jammed-up, and the hazmat folks had just been summoned (details unknown). According to the officer the only alternative was to either return to Phoenix or drive over to Wickenburg, and north on 89 (the Yarnell Grade…) to Prescott, and back to I-17. Wow! I opted for the re-route through Wickenburg rather than an even longer route through Payson. (I hope some of your reader’s have retrieved their atlases to see what this “reroute” really involved.)
Oh, I made it home okay – just a few hours later than I’d planned, but it got me to thinking. I’ve been a semi-prepper for quite a while and can usually cope with most situations, but this one caught me flat-footed.
Yes, I had a pistol in the car, a hat, a gallon of water, and good maps, my SPOT [satellite messaging] device, and a cell phone (with charger). What I realized, after thinking about it, was that I was casually driving to Phoenix on an Interstate (…no problems anticipated) in shorts and sandals. No sunscreen or other backup stuff. At least I’d stopped earlier to get a gigundo Coca-Cola, but I hadn’t had any lunch; and I was starved. My toolbox was on my workbench at home, I had a flashlight (but no backup batteries). Fortunately the truck was reliable, and I had a credit card for gas (but only $6 cash in my wallet…).
Frankly, I felt rather foolish; and nothing serious had really gone wrong, it was just a traffic accident/fire; but I was caught flat-footed. I got to thinking about some of the scenario’s that would have significantly changed the day … and my wife and I discussed some of them at Happy Hour after I finally got home! She’s not really a preparation-oriented person (she prefers to live in her color-coordinated World), but she got the ‘gist of what I was saying. This is Arizona after all, and summer’s are hot! I know better; but was caught off guard. But the amassed people, the jammed highways and small town (closed…) really got my attention.
The day’s mistakes (on my part) probably won’t happen again. I got “slapped up ‘side my head” and learned.
Sorry for the too-long story, but hopefully some of your reader’s can benefit from this example of innocent absentmindedness. – C. in Arizona