Traveling

I drove from my house (Central OR) to my brother's (Western WA, not too far from Seattle) without stopping.  I think that's the first time I've ever driven it straight through.  Five hours, fifteen minutes, for the record.

This is to the woman in the Toyota 4Runner coming down from Government Camp today:

The 55 mph speed limit on all non-freeway highways in Oregon is dumb enough.  I promise you that the speed limit is still 55 when going downhill.  Yes, even on a ever-so-slightly curvy stretch of downhill highway.  They have those handy-dandy yellow signs that warn you if you need to slow down for the curves.  Even when there ARE those signs, if you're driving a standard passenger vehicle, you can still generally go at LEAST 10 mph faster than the signs recommend.  I promise.  So there was absolutely NO need to go 40 mph downhill on gentle curves without warning signs.

And even if it had been necessary, it's not advised to ride your brakes down a long hill like that.  Your car has this thing called a transmission, which usually contains at least four gears.  You can select from among these gears.  Yes, even in an automatic.  Have someone show you--it's not hard.  I promise.  In the future, if you plan to go 40 mph downhill, you should choose a lower gear.  Low enough that you go the speed you desire (even if the rest of us don't) without riding the brakes.  But I would also recommend, if you're going to go 40 mph on a downhill stretch of highway, that you pull WAY over on the shoulder and turn your hazards on, because that is NOT the speed the rest of us want to go.

I'll save my rants about winter/snow driving for another day, since I didn't encounter any on this drive.  :-)