Not all windshield wiper fluid are created equal.

After living here for about a year or so, I've come to realize there are quite a few differences between living in warmer versus colder climates. And actually, it's not all climate differences, but also in language and culture. I guess it shouldn't have come as a shock to me, but I decided to create this blog to share lessons learned before they become "ordinary, everyday" things to me. 


As temperatures start to dip, I'm reminded of when I first arrived in Wisconsin. Rob and I made the move back to his home state of Wisconsin during the week of Christmas last year - what was I thinking?!? A girl who's only lived in sun-belt states thinking she can brave the cold, bitter winters of the frozen tundra, which her friends lovingly call Baja Canada. Before our move, Rob made sure our vehicles had sufficient windshield wiper fluid for the trek across the country. Not thinking anything of it, I picked up whatever blue liquid was there. 


The first two days of driving was rather uneventful. The weather behaved and we made our scheduled stops without much anguish (minus getting out of town later than expected, which made our first day of driving rather long!). As we were driving through Iowa into Wisconsin, it started to snow... well, not really... it was more of a snow/rain mix. Either way, it was cold and frozen droplets of water were making their way to my windshield. No problem, all I had to do was pull the windshield wiper lever and voila! I can see again. WRONG! I pulled, it made some noise then nothing. That's right! My windshield wiper fluid FROZE! 


Needless to say, we made a quick pit stop where I proceeded to pull out the bottle of windshield wiper fluid to see it say in big, black ink "protects down to 32 degrees." Really?!? I know it doesn't get that cold in Arizona, but doesn't water freeze at 32 degrees? Why would someone manufacture windshield wiper fluid that only protects to 32 degrees? Wouldn't it make sense to just use water then? 


So lesson number one: Not all windshield wiper fluid are created equal.


And oh, welcome to America's Dairyland... I was in for a bumpy ride!