I've been meaning to...

I need to take some pictures of the little town we live in. It won't take much. We have a Post Office, a bank, a little convenience store, and a hardware store. Oh and a Ranger Station for the Custer National Forest. It's a pretty basic town. Everyone has a Ranger Station in their town, right?

I was going to take photos last week but then Friday came with a bit of a snow storm. It wasn't much snow, really -- just a couple of inches. However, with the ice mixed with snow, it turned the roads into ice rinks. A total of five people from the community died while driving on Friday. Joe was behind one accident. He didn't see it happen, but he witnessed the aftermath. 

In light of the sadness around here, I didn't deem it appropriate to take some photos this week. 

This also serves as a caution to those who may come and visit us in the future. Snow won't be an issue if you come in the summer. However, just be careful on the roads for a couple of reasons. Route 212 has a lot of semi-truck traffic. Driving from South Dakota to Ashland, the road is pretty flat (and really boring). It's when you drive from Ashland to Billings that the road turns hilly and curvy. That's where most of the accidents occur and if you drive this way you will see the sides of the road littered with crosses where people perished in an accident. 

Why so many accidents? Why so many deaths? The speed limit is 70 during the day (65 at night and slower for trucks). People around here drive really fast and recklessly. Combined with a very limited hospital/emergency response team, this place is a bit dangerous for driving. 

Joe and I are very careful. We don't drive too much, since we do our grocery shopping every two weeks and we make sure to drive only during the day. 

So -- y'all be careful, too.