Night Driving

There have been some instances in the past where night driving was necessary and not very much fun. The first I can recall other than some instances where my dad Carl Beck was driving was the return trip from summer church camp. The camp was in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Bill Rice Ranch. The camp was established for hearing impaired kids giving them a free week of summer camp.

The van was filled with sleeping kids. My usual travelling partner and I were the only ones awake and sharing the chauffeur duties. It was dark, very dark and I don’t recall any moonlight. The highway was newly resurfaced four lanes with a median separating them. The tarmac looked as black as sin. Occasionally in the distance we could a faint light from a house. Traffic was light and often nothing was on the road but us. The scary part was that the yellow lines were bright yellow and freshly painted. As we drove, the dotted lines would almost hypnotize our tired eyes.

When I worked at Walworth Valve Company in South Greensburg, Pennsylvania, I was on the afternoon shift and often drove home in the dark. One night I saw a black panther. Another night an owl swooped and nearly crashed through my windshield, but the worst return trip was in the winter. There was fresh snow and no tracks on the roadway. A thick fog blanketed the area making driving hazardous. As I topped a small hill with a turn to the left, my headlights shined high into the air and I could see nothing to tell me where the roadway was.

Tenting out West with the youth from the church families the darkness driving to Yellowstone National Park had funny and some exciting moments. Three vans full of kids and drivers hurtled their way through the dark. Several near misses from antelope, deer, and coyotes occasionally rolled kids onto the floor. The humorous part occurred when one van needed fuel. And in Montana, gas stations can be sparse. We drove off the interstate where signage advised there was fuel. The paved exit ramp ended at a T and unpaved surface. One arm led to a field and the other to a parking lot. The lot gave us an option of turning around. There in the dark was a gas station. Light barely filtered through the dusty windows.

Restroom break was announced and kids spilled out. Inside was a teenage boy and at our invasion had a very surprised “aliens had landed” look on his face. There were other amusing aspects about the restrooms and the inside of the building I’ve shared before.