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User Info	Night Driving ; entered at 2018-05-18 10:23:46
Naomi Posts: 12 Registered: 2017-05-27 Dallas Texas	Driving at night is also my favorite time, and no getting older has not changed that. I just wear glasses mostly when it rains, to make sure my vision is a good as can be. Same reason as you, but I like the silence of the night and I like to roll the window down if it is not too cold for the noises and smells of nature. Plus the fact that I always drove "older" cars and hearing "new" noises was a very useful early warning, so I almost never had any sound on board. An aside : cats are not big on loud music, they love classical though (4 seasons of Vivaldi is a favorite). I prefer driving at night even when the roads are in bad shape... and perhaps even especially then, I remember driving on ice (the kind of surface where you no longer ear your tires at all). My (temptative) theory is that I am not likely to have to use my brakes when I am alone, hence reducing the chances of going "in the landscape"....of course if you ever do... But it can be tricky to drive late into the night. You may find yourself becoming sleepy at a time where suddenly all the motels along the road have closed (surprise!?!!}. One such time I decided that there my best option was to just nap at a rest stop, facing the clear alternative of falling asleep at the wheel as there were no gas stations, no fast food joints, nothing, somewhere in the middle of Mississippi. OBVIOUSLY, that is NOT recommended, it is hardly safe enough during the day (you have at least to be very aware of cars-people around you). Of course the rest area was deserted. I was thinking of just a quick nap. However, I woke up after sunrise, and what I first saw when opening my eyes was a state trooper sitting quietly in his car, parked alongside my car. My car at the time: picture a 20 year old Porsche, the rear full like an egg with luggage... and 3 cats on board (the Siameses must have been hissing at him...). Me asleep on the front seat-the only available space. I remember to this day that he was a younger guy in this 30s, blond, he had a soft expression of relief as I was waking up, with a touch of reprobation, mixed with a bit of amusement and just a touch of disbelief. Yep, that may have been the most embarassing day in my life. I am also to this day still grateful to this trooper, for caring and being so generous with his time. We did not talk at all, he just left as soon as I woke up. Of course that was before cell phones and internet, but now days for a very long drive, I would map where I am likely to be between 2 and 4 am, and look for (and verify) campgrounds or other commercial outfits. Generally, I no longer drive all night long. 2018-05-18 10:23:46