The Majors Creek bridge will be closed for repairs March 7-April 15 and the detour will go around a back way to the nearby town of Braidwood. The detour is considerably longer and much of it on dirt road. Since I'm fairly new to the area and had not been along the road I decided to drive to Braidwood via the detour to see how it was and how long it took.
The dirt road is good except for one patch where the gravel is very small, very round and, as I found, very dangerous. I was not going fast and did not touch the brakes but my car suddenly spun out of control sliding all over the road. I was sure I was going to roll, my mind went blank on what to do, and there seemed no way to stop the car... it slid for about 100 mts slewing all over the road before spinning sideways and then doing a 180 degree turn before finally coming to a stop on some different sort of gravel. Needless to say I was very shaken!
Another car coming in the opposite direction stopped to check if I was alright. Their car also slid as it came to a stop. I was very grateful for their kindness, and thankful that they were not a few seconds earlier or we would have collided. They warned me of another patch of the same gravel a bit further on.
I'm convinced that God sent angels to stop my car, and that he protected me from something far worse. There seems to be at least 1km of this slippery gravel... it wasn't easy to walk on it either. I've named it "ball bearing" gravel... very unstable and slippery.
I'm planning to write to the local council about it. It seems too dangerous to be pushing all traffic along this road for 5 weeks.
I am so very grateful for God's care of me. This event had underscored the fact that I have the wrong sort of car for the country... too light, only front wheel drive, not enough oomph... and, after yesterday morning's experience too dangerous for dirt roads.
