Slip Sliding 'Round the Curves By Pat Gibson (1986)

Every season but summer brings the Hill Country several weeks of steady soaking rains. In the summer we get thunder storms that wreak havoc and bring flooding. When we get these rainy spells, driving our back roads gets real interesting.

Lots of our county roads do have some pavement on them, but many of them are mostly caliche. The rainy seasons cause the base under the pavement to swell and buckle the asphalt. Pretty soon the roads look like something out of an old war movie, full of bomb craters.

Driving down one of these roads is a test of your ability to steer your car. It really gets scary when you have a traffic jam and you meet more than one or two cars. If you don't car about the suspension on your car or truck, you can drive down the road at whatever speed the law allows and devil take the hindmost! If you care about your vehicle, you slow down and watch out for the potholes. By the way, don't think I'm knocking the county and the road repairs when I talk about the potholes. As long as the rainy weather keeps up, the county can't fix the holes. As soon as the rain lets up, they have 200+ complaints to see to and it takes a while. Often they just about get some repairs done and the rains start in again so the rest have to wait and the first batch gets washed out.

Driving on the dirt roads after it has rained for several days can really be an adventure. If it is a heavily traveled road or one that the school buses drive down, the mud will stay pretty well packed down. If it is one that not many people use, but sure you tell someone you're going that way before your leave. You may get stuck and end up there for days.

When we first moved here above Sulfur Creek, we had a problem with our driveway. Well, actually it was just the yard since we didn't have any caliche on it yet. Every time it rained, my husband had to stay home because the slope up to the road was too slick for the car to get up. When we finally got out, he started parking on the road when the weather was wet. Sure was a long way to carry groceries.

If you get stuck in the mud, don't panic. I've seen people burn up tires trying to spin the car out of the mud. Sometimes it looks as if they are trying to dry up the mud by heating up the tires. It has been my experience that if you're up to the axles in mud, its time to walk a ways and let somebody with a truck and wench pull you out. If you're in just a little ways, sometimes, flattened boxes or rocks can get you enough traction to get out. I've never had much luck with rocks or cardboard. A truck with a wench is usually my best bet.

Now the autumn rains are falling and the fall colors are washing away. Late fall is a muted time but that's another story.

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