Escape From The Great White North

The plan was to become a nomad for three months. On one hand I was excited about going out and exploring the great unknown. It was going to be a challenge, being on my own for that long of a period of time without my normal support system. I was really looking forward to seeing if I could do this and thrive. To see if my dream, which I have had for the last twenty years, was all that I had imagined. The great unknown. It means leaving Tony and the nice comfortable, pleasant home life that we have built. I have left for upwards of three weeks at a time, but this was going to be a whole three months. I am sure that our relationship will survive, but at what cost? All questions that will be answered, I guess. I figure if this trip doesn't work out, if I become lonely or find that the open road is not for me, I can always head back home. I am truly grateful that Tony understands my wanderlust and supports me.

The idea was to leave after the New Year. In Minnesota, since the New Year, it has been frigid. I mean, the high has been -4F. I just couldn't get it together and make myself go and load up the RiV in that type of weather. After looking at the extended forecast and realizing that this was going to be the Minnesota winter, I decided that I just needed to bite the bullet and go. January 8 looked like it would be a little warmer – maybe 14 degrees. I'll aim for that. To my dismay, the chance of precipitation kept increasing also. Not only snow, but winds up to fifty miles an hour. Looking at the weather maps, I thought there was a little bit of a window and I could head out.

As I loaded the RiV, snowflakes started coming down. I hurried up and got on the road around ten. My GPS was taking me on some back roads which I actually liked because I could drive slower and get used to driving the big machine and towing my car. I finally got on the freeway and headed south. I had to pass through the I90 corridor. I consider the I90 corridor to be the Bermuda Triangle of the North. They have the worse weather, tornados, blizzards – you always take your life in your hands when you pass through that area of Minnesota. Today was no exception. The winds started picking up and as there is nothing but wide open prairie, the snow started blowing across the freeway leading to occasional white out conditions. When there weren't the white out conditions, the snow was blowing across the road and it looked almost like we were plowing through an ocean of snow. That was actually sort of pretty. It was not slippery, but the winds were picking up. If I stopped for gas or at a rest area, the wind and snow would catch up with me and I would have to outrun it again. I did this mostly at the speed of 50 – 55 mph. Anymore speed and you would be blown across the road.

I made it to Osceola Iowa to the Lakeside Casino RV park. I liked it better when it was called Terrible's Casino, but evidently they thought Terrible's might not be consumer friendly or something. It is too cold to hook up to the water, but I have electricity so I can keep warm without using my generator. It is supposed to be single digits. Around 8:00, the winds caught up with me. There were a few moments when I was a little worried about the RV. It was rocking and rolling – I haven't been in a windstorm like that in the RV before. I sure am glad I wasn't on the road. It would have been disastrous.