We drove out to Cambridge on Saturday morning. Or, more correctly, we went home to Cambridge. I was driving, and I made sure to follow the speed limit going north on 95. Ambrose had warned me that there was a speed trap in Weiser. I didn’t see a speed trap there, but I did pick up a follow car. A cop.
I drove carefully and steadily with the cop car behind, grateful for the cruise control. We picked up an additional vehicle in the line, a van. I was trying not to be nervous, because I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but it’s hard to drive well when there’s a police car behind you. A bit nerve-wracking, or maybe that’s just me?
Suddenly, I was no longer focused on the cop car, because in my sideview mirror, I caught sight of a jeep trying to make a pass on the two lane road. There was no room between any of the cars in my little line, so the jeep was going very fast to get ahead of me.
On the road ahead, a car was on approach, and I didn’t think that the jeep was going to have enough room to get over safely. I checked my rearview as I applied the brakes judiciously to give the jeep space to get around me without getting hit by oncoming traffic.
As soon as the jeep was back in our lane, the cop car lights up, I slow and pull to the right. The cop passes me and pulls over the jeep. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen one of those “instant karma” things happen in real life. I’ll try to pull the video from the dashcam, but it’s being finicky.
I was very happy to lose my cop follow car, as well as being tickled by the consequences being doled out for that reckless driver.
And when we were headed back to Boise on Sunday, we stopped for gas in Cambridge. Ambrose said he would pump, which was nice. Usually, our default is the passenger pumps. I don’t know if I’m glad or not that I was in the car when someone decided to back out of their parking spot directly at our car.
This gas station is pretty tight, with pumps at an angle, and parking jammed right up against it. But this driver didn’t pull out slowly and carefully, no, they zoomed backwards directly at my car. I thought they’d slow and stop but no, they kept coming.
With just seconds to decide on a course of action, I honked the horn, heart pounding in my throat. They didn’t end up hitting us, but whether that was from my honk or because they happened to be finished backing up, I’m not sure. Maybe they were just messing with us, backing up like that. But I think I stopped them with my honk.
They pulled away without an apology or backwards glance. But another car pulling out gave me some major eye contact and helped reassure me that I was indeed right to be a bit frightened of what had happened. Even though I was not in any actual danger, since if the other car had hit us, it would have been a low speed collision on the other side of the vehicle, I was flooded with adrenaline. I hope that doesn’t happen again! Probably better to fill up during the week in the future, when possible.
And in between those two bits of traffic excitement, I spent the night at my new home in Cambridge. I got my internet all set up (it’s better than what I get in Boise). I walked the perimeter of my land, and found I have many wildflowers in bloom. I can’t wait to get back there and stay.