Canadian woman stranded for 3 days survived on kombucha and marzipan cake.

[freakazoid]

Not on Onion article. lol
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/11/29/canadian-stranded-rural-iowa-snow-storm-mud-road-survival-canada-woman-terry-harnish-fairfield-ia/2148476002/

Her car got stuck on some muddy dirt road. She tried to walk to some farmhouses she had passed but kept getting stuck and fell down at one point, apparently lying there for two hours before getting the strength to get back up and made her way back to the car. It said she got back at 1am, which I'm assuming is back to her car. Spent the next few days turning the car on and off to keep a little warm. Eventually there was a snow storm which brought out some snowmobilers and she was able to get their attention.

[Hawkmoon]

Lucky ...

[Jocassee]

If she was laying in the mud for 2 hours, hypothermia could have easily killed her.

[charby]

It is really hard in Iowa not to walk more than a mile and not come across a cross road.

I wonder if she was drunk when she got lost.

[Brad Johnson]

Sorry she got stuck but I can't help but see several levels of personal-level Epic Fail in that story.

Brad

[charby]

Every non-graveled road (or not plowed in the winter time) in Iowa has these signs at both ends.



Most mud roads in Iowa are becoming either being gated off or graveled because of folks with 4x4 trucks tearing them up for fun.

[grampster]

She sounds a bit like the folks who listen to their GPS and turn onto a RR track and wonder why they got run over by a train.

[Ben]

Yeah, several days in Iowa sounds kinda weird. Especially given that she said she saw farmhouses. There's parts of some Western states in the lower 48, like Nevada, where that happens a lot, but even then, you have to be way off in one of the deserts. Hey Charby - how is rural cell service there?

I'll give her some leeway due to age though.

[charby]

Hey Charby - how is rural cell service there?

It is really hard to find dead areas, most areas at least have voice. Lots of data dead areas though.

I can totally see it in the western states.

[TechMan]

The Canadian native is a professional storyteller, operating Terry Tales International. She is in Fairfield — where she lived for five years in the early 1990s — to organize a storytelling festival. Once Upon a Winter's Solstice is being held in Fairfield on Dec. 21.

I am wondering if this has some type of publicity twist to it.

[charby]

I am wondering if this has some type of publicity twist to it.

there are some different people in that town

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_University_of_Management

[Jocassee]

It is really hard to find dead areas, most areas at least have voice. Lots of data dead areas though.

I can totally see it in the western states.

She did say she didn't have her cell phone.

[MillCreek]

I think she has been punished enough by having to drink kombucha, but I wouldn't mind the marzipan cake.

[Perd Hapley]

Somehow, I don't think finding nourishment was the most important issue in that scenario.

[MechAg94]

It is really hard in Iowa not to walk more than a mile and not come across a cross road.

I wonder if she was drunk when she got lost.

I was wondering why she didn't make another attempt to walk back up the road later.  Was the entire area so muddy she couldn't walk? 

[Regolith]

Yeah, several days in Iowa sounds kinda weird. Especially given that she said she saw farmhouses. There's parts of some Western states in the lower 48, like Nevada, where that happens a lot, but even then, you have to be way off in one of the deserts. Hey Charby - how is rural cell service there?

I'll give her some leeway due to age though.

Used to be in Nevada if you weren't within a dozen or so miles of one of the major highways you were usually SOL in terms of cell service. I've been off in the desert somewhere there wasn't cell coverage and gotten stuck a few times, and thinking about having to walk 8 or 10 miles to reach the nearest ranch house gives you a lot of motivation to get unstuck...

Oregon has a lot better cell coverage, but the Cascades and the southeast corner of the state still have a bunch of dead areas. Every once in a while in the wintertime someone will follow their GPS onto a road going through the Cascades that isn't maintained during the winter and get themselves stuck in the snow. Lot of them freeze to death.

[MillCreek]

Here in Washington, the cell coverage is along the cities and towns, and outside the cities and towns, goes along the major highways.  Lots of uncovered areas out in the boonies and dead spots closer in due to terrain.  Once you get about five miles away from the major highways out in the sticks, it is a crapshoot if you have service, depending on the carrier. Verizon has the most coverage in the rural areas.

[lee n. field]

Not on Onion article. lol
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/11/29/canadian-stranded-rural-iowa-snow-storm-mud-road-survival-canada-woman-terry-harnish-fairfield-ia/2148476002/

Her car got stuck on some muddy dirt road. She tried to walk to some farmhouses she had passed but kept getting stuck and fell down at one point, apparently lying there for two hours before getting the strength to get back up and made her way back to the car. It said she got back at 1am, which I'm assuming is back to her car. Spent the next few days turning the car on and off to keep a little warm. Eventually there was a snow storm which brought out some snowmobilers and she was able to get their attention.

Well, I guess kamboucha won't kill you, in small doses.

[Firethorn]

Yeah, several days in Iowa sounds kinda weird. Especially given that she said she saw farmhouses. There's parts of some Western states in the lower 48, like Nevada, where that happens a lot, but even then, you have to be way off in one of the deserts. Hey Charby - how is rural cell service there?

I'll give her some leeway due to age though.

She may be like a grandmother up here who DID freeze to death in the winter and mistook unoccupied farm buildings for a farm house.

[T.O.M.]

I was wondering why she didn't make another attempt to walk back up the road later.  Was the entire area so muddy she couldn't walk? 

Article said she recently had knee replacement surgery...might have limited her walking.

[Firethorn]

You know, if you're going to be getting off of heavily traveled highways and transiting rural roads with little traffic, I think that a satellite emergency beacon wouldn't be a bad idea.

Though reading, it says that she didn't intend to be on said road, so a satellite emergency beacon might not be a bad idea at all.

Though reading the article - it says that she didn't even have her cellphone on her, so there's a double no-no, I think.  Cellphones are great emergency devices most of the time.

Hell, from what I understand, even the "last seen location" can give the police a good idea on where to start looking.

[Hawkmoon]

Here in Washington, the cell coverage is along the cities and towns, and outside the cities and towns, goes along the major highways.  Lots of uncovered areas out in the boonies and dead spots closer in due to terrain.  Once you get about five miles away from the major highways out in the sticks, it is a crapshoot if you have service, depending on the carrier. Verizon has the most coverage in the rural areas.

I have a friend in south-central Washington (state) who has no cell coverage at his house. He has to drive into town to check for messages or make calls.

Verizon coverage map:
https://www.verizonwireless.com/featured/better-matters/?map=4glte#maps

AT&T coverage map:
https://www.att.com/maps/wireless-coverage.html