Winter Survival Kit

It is that time of the year when people should be prepared for a winter emergency.  The temperatures are getting colder and many people will be traveling during the holidays.  Most people travel where there is quite a bit of traffic or cell phone coverage, but in extreme temperatures or rare cases they may find themselves waiting for help to arrive.   I had the opportunity to think about this a couple of times last week.  One opportunity arose when I got Abby out to the bus stop just a couple of minutes late.  The bus was no longer waiting for us on our road so I had to drive 10 miles down to the next bus stop to catch it.  Of course I wasn’t planning on driving 10 miles and since I get my car all warmed up before we leave, I usually don’t wear a jacket.  When I get home from dropping Abby off I usually hop on the treadmill, so I just wear tennis shoes.  Luckily I managed to stay on the road and everything turned out fine, but had I gone into the ditch at that time of the day with the temperature below zero it could have been a problem.  Another opportunity popped up when a neighbor and I met on our side road.  He was coming up the hill and I was heading down, with the slippery conditions we nearly hit, and as he kept going, I ended up stuck in the ditch.  I didn’t want to walk the 7/10 of a mile back home and bother Mike, so I decided to dig the car out of the snowbank.  An hour later, sweaty and tired, I tried to drive it out.  Unfortunately there wasn’t enough weight in the vehicle and it wouldn’t budge.  So, I proceeded to walk back home and get Mike and Don to pull the vehicle out.  Luckily I was dressed for the cold temperatures this time, but I still didn’t have good snow boots on.  I like to keep an extra warm jacket, snow pants, scarf, hat, mittens, and boots in the back of my vehicle.  I usually put in a kit with matches, fire starter, a lighter, toilet paper, high energy snack, and a flashlight.  It’s nice to have a folding shovel and some dirt or kitty litter in the vehicle as well.  I plan on getting this together before we travel to St. Cloud for the holidays.  I’m sure I won’t have any more problems this year, especially when I’m prepared for it.  Travel safely!