i-10-stopped.jpgAn Accident on Interstate 10 today brought traffic to a complete dead stop. At about 11:18 this morning on our way back from Arizona, we encountered the stoppage between Blythe and Desert Center. The outside temperature was 113°. We waited for 35 minutes in the sweltering heat for traffic to start moving again.

Clickable Image: Traffic on I-10 at a dead stop. Top: looking west.

After 20 minutes of waiting, we saw a young man on a mountain bicycle go by heading toward whatever incident was ahead on the highway. About 15 minutes after that, he was heading back telling anyone who would hear that there had been an accident up ahead and that it was now cleared and traffic had started moving ahead. Buddy, if you’re reading this then God Bless You!

hi-e.jpgAll I can say is thank God for our air conditioned SUV. The Better Half and our dog were reasonably comfortable in spite of the temperature reported in the readout integrated into the rear view mirror. Talk about Urban Heat Island effect - hundreds of idling vehicles on the hot bituminous pavement generating massive bubbles of hot air under the vehicles.

After we got rolling, the readout dropped to a mere 117°. We passed the accident site - we could see no wrecked vehicles but there was a gaggle of CHP in the median with accident scene tools still investigating the incident.

Now, we’re home and it’s a nice cool 89° - just right for a couple of cold ones to take the edge off of an interesting interstate commute.