Car washes are an upper midwest thing
Okay, okay - I know car washes are everywhere. I've given car wash gift certificates for gifts to people who most definitely don't live in the midwest. Now that I've been in Wisconsin for just part of the winter, though, I'm telling you - the necessity of the automatic car wash is definitely an upper midwest thing.
See, when it snows, they put salt on the roads. Salt. REAL SALT. I didn't even know that was a thing anymore! I heard about beet juice while we lived in Arkansas; on the rare occasion we expected ice or snow, crews would pre-treat the roads in an effort to minimize problems. I guess I just assumed, too, that there were synthetic alternatives that felt like a more environmentally friendly choice. Of course, I may be terribly misinformed, and real salt may be just fine. But doesn't it seem weird that after 100 years of driving and paved roads, that's our plan?
My concerns aside, though, that's the deal - salt on the roads, which results in salt everywhere. Car doors, car tires, underside of car, fenders, windows... you get the picture. That also means it's on my kids' coats from rubbing on the car, it's on my floor mats from shoes, and on anything that comes into contact with any exterior part of my car. It's a mess. My white car manages to hide some of the mess, but only relative to our maroon van. I'm also obsessed with what it might be doing to the undercarriage of my car. It hasn't gotten above freezing more than twice since before Christmas, so what to do when you can't run a hose in your driveway?
Easy - you go to the automatic car wash. It's just The Thing you do. Unfortunately, it's The Thing everyone does. I've driven by car washes at gas stations for a week now, needing to run it through the wash but dreading the six, either or ten deep lines. I finally bit the bullet last weekend, settling into the wait for a turn at the hot jets that would wash the mess away and leave me with a sparkling car.
Net impact: I spent over 45 minutes to finally get to the front of the line and into the car wash. I knew it would take a while, but ugggghhhhh... what a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
I guess it was worth it - I am relieved to have the undercarriage cleaned off, and with the forecast, there shouldn't be more salt put on the roads for a while. Of course, without any kind of precipitation in the forecast, that also means the roads will stay coated with the white stuff for a while, so I think I'll be fighting this battle all winter long.
Next time, though, I have a better plan - I'm going with the Early Bird Gets The Worm approach. If I can get up at 4:30am to get a workout in, I can get up early on a weekend morning to get those 45 minutes back!
Ahh, Wisconsin Life - the dairy farmers aren't the only ones who will be up with the sun to get their chores done!
See, when it snows, they put salt on the roads. Salt. REAL SALT. I didn't even know that was a thing anymore! I heard about beet juice while we lived in Arkansas; on the rare occasion we expected ice or snow, crews would pre-treat the roads in an effort to minimize problems. I guess I just assumed, too, that there were synthetic alternatives that felt like a more environmentally friendly choice. Of course, I may be terribly misinformed, and real salt may be just fine. But doesn't it seem weird that after 100 years of driving and paved roads, that's our plan?
My concerns aside, though, that's the deal - salt on the roads, which results in salt everywhere. Car doors, car tires, underside of car, fenders, windows... you get the picture. That also means it's on my kids' coats from rubbing on the car, it's on my floor mats from shoes, and on anything that comes into contact with any exterior part of my car. It's a mess. My white car manages to hide some of the mess, but only relative to our maroon van. I'm also obsessed with what it might be doing to the undercarriage of my car. It hasn't gotten above freezing more than twice since before Christmas, so what to do when you can't run a hose in your driveway?
Easy - you go to the automatic car wash. It's just The Thing you do. Unfortunately, it's The Thing everyone does. I've driven by car washes at gas stations for a week now, needing to run it through the wash but dreading the six, either or ten deep lines. I finally bit the bullet last weekend, settling into the wait for a turn at the hot jets that would wash the mess away and leave me with a sparkling car.
Net impact: I spent over 45 minutes to finally get to the front of the line and into the car wash. I knew it would take a while, but ugggghhhhh... what a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.I guess it was worth it - I am relieved to have the undercarriage cleaned off, and with the forecast, there shouldn't be more salt put on the roads for a while. Of course, without any kind of precipitation in the forecast, that also means the roads will stay coated with the white stuff for a while, so I think I'll be fighting this battle all winter long.
Next time, though, I have a better plan - I'm going with the Early Bird Gets The Worm approach. If I can get up at 4:30am to get a workout in, I can get up early on a weekend morning to get those 45 minutes back!
Ahh, Wisconsin Life - the dairy farmers aren't the only ones who will be up with the sun to get their chores done!
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