It’s typically every car person’s grimace, living or driving down dirt roads. It was mine. Until I straightened out my face and saddled up on one, daily. Yeah, our cars are dirty almost all the time. Almost. Is this the only downside you could think of? Maybe you thought about pot holes? Yeah, those will make your underside grimace when you hit a deep one. Is that it? Look, those are two worthy causes to avoid dirt roads but let me give you the upside to living off of one.
- The road is always changing. One day its dry, the next, a rainy sloppy mess. Pot holes ebb and flow in different locations. It’s a game-like challenge to drive the minefield.
- They grade dirt roads. About once a month, you come home to a brand new road. Or if you are lucky enough, you are navigating a 6-10 inch tall mound of dirt down the center of the road while they do it. It’s super fun to traverse as the first person to make two tracks.
- Winter driving is dy-no-mite. So fun! First off, they don’t salt dirt roads. I can drive any car, any time without the fear of rust. Also, the surface can be pure ice sometimes until the county sprinkles dirt on top of it. I took the Miata out the other day and did 180s just by thinking about it. They also don’t plow as fast as the paved roads. You get a decent snowfall that creates huge snow ruts and you’re packing a candle, spare food and sweater just in case.
- Rallying. Fish tailing deep into the corners brings out a boyish grin every time. Even my wife is used to me kicking the back end out.
As a lover of cars but more importantly, a lover of driving those cars, dirt roads are a “chef recommends.” Best decision we made in buying our house. Maybe I need to consider the roads more and the dream of living on a lake less.
