My Early Morning Adventure

A couple weeks ago now, a part fell off my car.  It was a piece of the trim near the driver's side sliding door, and ironically it fell off on the way to get my other door serviced (it was grinding and having trouble opening and closing).  I got a quote for the missing piece while I was there ... over $625.  Yikes.  After surveying the options, my husband decided we should look for it.  Unfortunately, it fell off on a very busy stretch of highway, so whomever went needed to go as early in the daylight hours as possible to maximize search time with as little traffic as possible.  I had trouble describing to him where I thought it came off, so I decided to go on the search myself.  And I went this morning.  And, since my camera is busted, I took pictures with my phone instead.  Here's how it went.

This is very close to where I parked and started looking.  In this lovely patch of weeds and over-grown grass, I found some sort of animal carcass, probably the back end of a dog or fox opened up.  It was not a good way to start the trip.


Here's the sign near where I parked.

There's my car.  I'm happy I had a nice stretch of shoulder to park and search on.  The majority of the first part of my search was conducted to the weed-side of the guardrail.

Every time a car would whiz by, my heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest and my body braced for impact.  I tried my best to relax, but it was nearly impossible.  I have major respect now for the people who clean up and fix up our highways. 

Somehow, some way, I found the part.  Yup, seriously.  On an overpass no less!  Good for me, since I was not all about wading in the mucky, carcass-laden weeds.  Bad for the part ... it is all scratched up.  Here's the view east from the exact spot I found it.

And here's the view west.  I'll be honest, I'm not afraid of heights, but the thought of venturing out onto a bridge with traffic whizzing behind me just about fried my nerves.  It was all worthwhile when I found the part though.  Oh, and I also found one of the welding brackets that was missing from the piece! 

So, what have I learned from my little adventure?  I have learned that I am probably not cut out for cleaning the sides of highways; I have often thought it would be cool to adopt a stretch of road and keep it clean, but now I am questioning whether I have the stomach for it.  Case in point, I found two nearly full bottles of pee on my search.  (Not cool, guys.  Not cool.)

And I found two dead animals in varying states of decay.  First, the aforementioned dog/fox.  Second, this lovely little skull.  I have no idea what else I walked by, and I am certainly glad for that.

Not to sound all Mrs. Bennett, but my nerves are frayed right now.  I did not enjoy that little adventure much, though it was exhilarating when I found the actual pieces I was looking for. 

I would like to give a shout out to my husband's co-worker, Jim DeMaagd.  Thank you for loaning me your MDOT Adopt-a-Highway reflective vest!  It made me feel ever-so-slightly safer, as it's difficult to feel safe AT ALL when on a highway shoulder with cars and trucks whizzing by you at 70 miles per hour or faster.  The work you and your fellow adopt-a-highway workers should be highly praised for your efforts; it is certainly not for the faint of heart.  Thank you for helping keep our highways and byways looking their best.

Have a wonderful, safe day!