Last But Harrowing Trip To South Haven
From James Donahue’s Journal
The sale of our house in South Haven prompted one final trip from Sandusky to South Haven to close on the property. The state trooper and his wife, who rented the house, ended up buying it which made for a simple transaction. It also gave Doris and me a chance to take one final look at the place we remembered so fondly.
The city had changed somewhat. Streets were widened, the city had filled in the vast ravine that separated the downtown area and new stores were standing on what once had been open air. Other than that, our former homes looked about the same and some of the same people were around. After a full day of driving to South Haven, signing papers, doing some sight -seeing, we decided to celebrate by driving to Kalamazoo, enjoying a good meal there and checking into a Red Roof motel just off the expressway and spending the night. The idea was for Doris to do some shopping the next day before we drove home.
That was not the way it worked out. Something woke me at about three in the morning and I was shocked to look out over the parking lot and see that we were being hit by a blinding snow storm. I turned on the television and they were forecasting a severe storm sweeping the entire state. The first effects of the storm were just then hitting Kalamazoo.
Doris and I decided to hit the road and try to outrun the storm. We got dressed, checked out, drove to a nearby McDonald’s that was apparently open all night, grabbed a couple of egg mc-muffins for the road, gassed up the car and hit the road. The storm was blinding. I found that if I got behind a large truck running with its lights on that I could easily stay on the road in spite of the sometimes white-out conditions. The storm got worse so even after the sun rose, it was still almost impossible to see the road. I just stayed behind that convoy of trucks, hoping the driver ahead of us knew where the road was.
It was the most harrowing drive I think I have ever made. I sat stiff at the wheel, driving through that storm all the way across the state. We had the radio on and learned that they were closing roads behind us, but the way ahead was still open.
When we finally arrived in Sandusky, we knew we were being pelted from behind by a powerful westerly wind so our north-south road to the house would probably be drifted shut. We expected to have to walk at least a half mile through the storm and we were not dressed for it. We stopped at a local clothing store and bought warm pull-over caps and gloves and scarves. We also called the house. Doris’ mother was there with the kids. We told them we were coming in.
Just as I expected, as soon as we turned onto Hale Road, we were confronted by a giant snow drift. I slammed our Mercury into that drift and almost buried the car in snow. We forced our way out and started walking toward the house. Just then, Aaron came out to meet us in the Oldsmobile. He got about halfway and so we got a ride the rest of the way.
When we dug the car out after the storm, snow was packed so hard up into and around the motor we could not get the vehicle started. We had to wait until the next thaw before that car ran again.
From James Donahue’s Journal
The sale of our house in South Haven prompted one final trip from Sandusky to South Haven to close on the property. The state trooper and his wife, who rented the house, ended up buying it which made for a simple transaction. It also gave Doris and me a chance to take one final look at the place we remembered so fondly.
The city had changed somewhat. Streets were widened, the city had filled in the vast ravine that separated the downtown area and new stores were standing on what once had been open air. Other than that, our former homes looked about the same and some of the same people were around. After a full day of driving to South Haven, signing papers, doing some sight -seeing, we decided to celebrate by driving to Kalamazoo, enjoying a good meal there and checking into a Red Roof motel just off the expressway and spending the night. The idea was for Doris to do some shopping the next day before we drove home.
That was not the way it worked out. Something woke me at about three in the morning and I was shocked to look out over the parking lot and see that we were being hit by a blinding snow storm. I turned on the television and they were forecasting a severe storm sweeping the entire state. The first effects of the storm were just then hitting Kalamazoo.
Doris and I decided to hit the road and try to outrun the storm. We got dressed, checked out, drove to a nearby McDonald’s that was apparently open all night, grabbed a couple of egg mc-muffins for the road, gassed up the car and hit the road. The storm was blinding. I found that if I got behind a large truck running with its lights on that I could easily stay on the road in spite of the sometimes white-out conditions. The storm got worse so even after the sun rose, it was still almost impossible to see the road. I just stayed behind that convoy of trucks, hoping the driver ahead of us knew where the road was.
It was the most harrowing drive I think I have ever made. I sat stiff at the wheel, driving through that storm all the way across the state. We had the radio on and learned that they were closing roads behind us, but the way ahead was still open.
When we finally arrived in Sandusky, we knew we were being pelted from behind by a powerful westerly wind so our north-south road to the house would probably be drifted shut. We expected to have to walk at least a half mile through the storm and we were not dressed for it. We stopped at a local clothing store and bought warm pull-over caps and gloves and scarves. We also called the house. Doris’ mother was there with the kids. We told them we were coming in.
Just as I expected, as soon as we turned onto Hale Road, we were confronted by a giant snow drift. I slammed our Mercury into that drift and almost buried the car in snow. We forced our way out and started walking toward the house. Just then, Aaron came out to meet us in the Oldsmobile. He got about halfway and so we got a ride the rest of the way.
When we dug the car out after the storm, snow was packed so hard up into and around the motor we could not get the vehicle started. We had to wait until the next thaw before that car ran again.