So Hot, It Melted

We spent the week of 4th of July with DH's dad and step-mom at their home and nearby cabin on the Susquehanna River.  As was the case for most of Pennsylvania last week, the temperatures were sweltering hot.  We made the trip to and from the cabin multiple times in those first few days we were there, going to the grocery store, stopping by the pool for a swim, or simply driving around in an attempt to get EH to take a nap during his worst week of naps in his entire existence.  We drove that road a lot. 

On Friday, July 6th, we were returning to the cabin when we drove through a crazy amount of what seemed to be new tar and chips on the road.  It made an incredibly loud noise as it all hit the underside of our car (come to think of it, we never really assessed whether or not there was any damage to that) and remarked about how awful that was, but just kept driving through.  Only later did it hit us - the road wasn't recently tarred and chipped. It was melting.

 The view from the passenger seat

The next day, Saturday, when we were heading out once again our suspicions were confirmed.  In the 100 degree heat, the road - which admittedly wasn't in great shape in the first place - was so hot that the asphalt top was melting and sticking to the tires of vehicles as they passed over.  It went on for perhaps a quarter of a mile and was a huge mess. 

The lighting in the picture above is so off because the sun is reflecting off of the wet surface of the road.  It was actually wet.  When I opened my door to get out of my car, I had to jump a foot further than normal to avoid stepping in slippery tar. 

A close up of a section of the road that had melted and was pulled away

When driving up or down the steeper parts of the hill that was most affected by the melting, there were points when our car tires slid on the wet tar. 

This is wet another one of those things that was so incredibly crazy to see, but equally as difficult to photograph.  None of these pictures even begin the capture how bizarre it was to be driving on a road that was literally melting.  As we approached the melted area for the second or third time the one day (so we obviously knew of the issue) cars that were coming from the river area were flashing their lights at us in warning, because it was so bad and I'm pretty sure if you drove over that too fast, bad things would have happened.

All I know is, if this isn't evidence of global warming, I'm not sure what is...