While driving through the mountainous part of Montana once, I recall seeing many little narrow dirt roads branching off from the highway. At the entrance to each of these roads there was a sign saying you were forbidden to drive on that road unless you carried with you a shovel and a bucket.

When I was younger and more adventurous than I am now, I loved to explore the back roads, and I always kept a small shovel in the trunk of my car. I recall three times when my car got stuck and I needed it, once in a mud puddle in a state park in Minnesota, and once in sand in Wyoming, and once in deep snow on a street in St. Paul.

Actually, there are lots of times when you need to shovel your way out of a snowdrift in Minnesota, but there is nearly always someone around with a snow shovel, so you don't have to rely on the one in your trunk.