I pulled into Grand Rapids last night 35 hours after I left Yakima. 35, including all gas/food stops, and the two hours of sleep I snagged at a truck stop in Nebraska. Almost up to 211,000 on the odometer after the drive. It was a bafflingly trouble-free cross-country winter road trip.

My car was covered in a thick layer of frozen rain when I took off Weds at about 9 am, but the roads were okay around Yakima. Zero precipitation the whole way other then a few snowflakes on the passes in Wyoming. The interstates were dry or lightly wet the entire way (a couple spots of compact ice in NE Oregon). The only construction I hit was a rolling slowdown in Iowa that I was through in five minutes. No Chicago slowdowns. No car trouble. Not a single wrong turn even without an atlas or gps.

I guess if I had to pick out something that went wrong, it would be that my windshield washer sprayer was frozen for the first hour or so. And the bright sun reflecting off the wet pavement in Oregon was little irritating.