The Sheer Terror of Driving Downhill on An Icy Mountain Road

My daily commute from Dr & Mrs H's home in the mountains all the way down to the clinic is almost exactly 10 miles.  It's fairly easy when the road conditions are good because there are no stop signs or traffic lights, just steady driving.  But when it becomes icy and foggy, and my rental car (a Ford Focus that is not well-suited to mountain roads) begins to skid, I start noticing little details that I previously never paid attention to: how winding and steep the downhill drive is;  how there are no guardrails at the most treacherous of curves; and how easy it would be to accidentally go plunging down an embankment...

My phobia of driving downhill on an icy mountain road luckily coincides with discovering that I am not too terribly allergic to Auggie, a friendly golden retriever who lives in the home of Dr S and her husband.  They reside just 4 miles from the clinic, and their house is not far from the western bank of the Okanogan River.  At any rate, it's not on an icy mountain road.

I have mixed feelings about leaving the H's because they have been such a wonderfully fun family and I love the peacefulness of their surroundings.  It's hard to believe that I've already reached the halfway point of my tenure here in Tonasket.  What am I going to do with the giant bottle of gin I won as a door prize weeks ago at the clinic holiday party???  Here's what I'm thinking: either drink it all, or send the whole thing back to Seattle so I can mix gin & tonics for everyone upon my return.