Home!

Today was almost a five hour drive, but since the goal was just to pull into my driveway with the trailer, I had no pressure. I thought perhaps hooking up would be an issue since I was on a slight incline, but it was not. I do think putting blocks under the stabilizer feet helps to keep the trailer from settling and thus getting into a position where I can not adjust the tongue to the right height to get on the ball or off its block.

The first stretch of my ride on US 52 from southern Minnesota to St Paul, is familiar to me from drives down to Rochester for volleyball tournaments with Amy and from continuing past Rochester to Cedar Rapids, IA to visit Amy while she was at Coe College. The towns have intriguing names like Zumbrota and Mazzeppa and for awhile the terrain continues to be hilly with rocky limestone outcroppings. As I got closer to the Twin Cities, it leveled out and there is a refinery in the middle of nowhere. I had a gas stop just north of Rochester so I would not have to mess with that around the Twin Cities.

I did intend to make one stop today at Costco in Maplewood as I skirted the Twin Cities. I thought I had selected the route that avoided a tricky and congested exit, but I had not. Patience is a virtue and people will cut you off if you are pulling a trailer.

I chose this Costco because I was familiar with its parking lot , and it usually was not too crowded. As I pulled in, it was busier than usual because it was Friday, but I was able to find a place to park. I used some of the best advice I got about pulling a trailer from my local contractor. He said never leave space so someone can get in front of you and block you in.

After a successful Costco run, I was back on the road before afternoon traffic and out-running rain for now. It continues to try to spit but nothing too heavy, and winds are not too bad either. I stopped for gas and a bio/stretch break for me in Onamia which is a little than an hour to go. This portion of US 169 is VERY familiar to me as anyone who lives in the north woods I make many trips to go to “the cities” to pick up friends at the airport, shop at IKEA or Trader Joe’s, get my car serviced, etc.

It’s a pretty drive with farms along the way and mostly dual highway until one reaches Mille Lac lake, the second largest lake in Minnesota. Deerwood Is home to the Deerstand Restaurant, formerly the Lutheran Church that was relocated from Crosslake where my mom lives. Integrating for the building to morph from a church to a bar where they have dildo races. Crosby is 18 miles from home and this former mining town has reinvented itself as a mountain biking destination. It only took 50 years with a lot of suffering and poverty in that town.

And then my town Emily, population 837. But we have a gift shop, Beer,Bait and Gas, a meat store, a bank, a grocery store, two restaurants and several churches. Sadly, as the volunteer coordinator for the food shelf, I know we have more than 90 families regularly relying on us for assistance. They want to bring mining here, but that will ruin our economy long term as it did in Crosby because no one wants to vacation where 600 dump trucks are on the road every day and neurotoxins are being released in the air and water. But that is a fight for another day.

As I finally turned onto my road, I thanked the universe, my grandparents, and my friend’s prayers for giving me traveling mercies. And that not much had changed. My grandparents have long passed but I went to see them at the cemetery before I departed and asked them to intercede for me. My Koch ancestors are the key to our Minnesota connection and concerns for conservation.

As if heralding my arrival, the rain and thunder finally caught up with me as I was trying to get the cats and perishables unloaded before I got something to eat and crashed. As I was settling in and taking inventory, I inspected my knee which I clobbered on the guard rail while rescusing the box turtle last week. It’s always nice to have souvenirs from my trips!!

That’s it for this journey. I believe the next trailer adventure will be a week in Canada…