So the drive to Dartmouth was fun last night.
495 E to rt-24 S to rt-140 S without a single hickup. Other than we were running 5 minutes late because I had stopped to grab some lunch at the Shaws deli down the street.
140 south bound comes to a complete stop down around freetown. So we sit in traffic not moving and then edging up slightly for over an hour. The car in front of us had a german sheppard that tried to sniff and bark at the other motorists which helped entertain everyone except the woman in the car with the dog
Meanwhile police and tow trucks kept circling the area because people were driving across the 150 yard grass median to turn around instead of sitting in traffic. The cop just stood and watched and then would step out into the road and point at them and then to the side of the road where they would wait patiently for a ticket. He had 3 lined up at once
Meanwhile the tow trucks were in charge of all the people who tried to cut across and got stuck in the grass, which was actually acting more like a tar pit and sucking people in. Then there was one flatbed that got himself stuck up to his hubs trying to get out a little altima. Skip ahead an hour and everyone is directed off the highway onto an exit in the backwoods where we followed flooded streets back onto 140 a few exits south.
Here's why
So our 45 minutes drive ended up being over 2 hours.
Then the trip back. Same thing. 140 closed, have to take alt route. I figure I'll take rt-18 north. Works fine for a while and then we see a sign that says "rt-18 closed seek alt route" I say "but rt 18 is my alternate route" and try to venture on. About 500 yards away I see full size suv's up to their floorboards crossing the lake that used to be a road and proceed to make a 400 point turn, in the dark, on a flooded road, in the middle of nowhere, trying not to go off the edge of the road because it's all mud. I then follow detour signs back the way we came and manage to get back onto 140 after the flood zone. Then in an effort to save some sanity I figure I'll avoid 495 and just take 44 through taunton and then 138 north to 106. Except rt-44 was closed and we had to go a different way.
Here's why:
I'm just glad we had food and drinks for the ride down and that the car didn't do too bad in all the crap. I'm especially thankful that I replaced and aimed the headlights a month ago.