Soda Explosion

"There's ice all over Josie's seat."

I was gathering up our refundable cans and bottles to put in the minivan for a Wegman's run, and stood up to have a look. Brandie was right, there were ice crystals of various sizes all over Josie's car seat. And the roof of the car. And the dashboard. And the console. And the floor. In the third row? Yep. What the heck?

My first (sleep-deprived) thought: can mice do that? Our recent struggles and apparent victory over mice invaders made me think they had resorted to attacking our minivan. But how did they get water into the car?

Then I found the smoking gun: a Wegman's Ginger Ale can split open from top to bottom, still semi-full of the incriminating crystals. We had packed it in the car for our recent drive to my sister's house, and forgotten to remove it. Just in time for The Big Freeze of '07, where they closed a lot of local schools because it was too cold.

So yes, soda cans will explode dramatically when frozen. Don't leave them in your car, it's quite a mess.