I have so much to tell you, but I’m having trouble making the time to write about it. Look for a few quick updates in the next week. I left town last Thursday (the 20th) and had three straight book events. Thanks to the folks in Galesburg, Lansing, and Alma for showing up and showing some love.

I left home just as St. Louis was getting buried under ten inches of snow. My first night on the road, the temperature in Rock Island dipped to -11. That sounds bad, but La Crosse, my next stop, saw the temp fall to -19. Yikes. That sounded bad until I read that Bemidji, my destination in a couple of days after that, hit -29. Minnesotans often say “things could be worse”, and sure enough, the temperature in International Falls, also in Minnesota and just two hours from Bemidji, sank all the way to -46. Thankfully, I’m not going there…yet.

A few quick observations about life in the land of real winter:

  • It’s amazing how a light snow can feel so much more threatening when you’re driving in the dark.
  • I forgot how bone dry the air gets up here in winter. I’m going to run out of hand lotion in the first week.
  • Sixteen degrees feels downright balmy after a few days of subzero temps.
  • This might be why the weather forecaster was downright giddy when he got to tell folks that temps will soon be in the 20s!
  • Life goes on, even in the midst of the worst weather. People still gotta work; kids still gotta go to school; retired guys still gotta fish.
  • Snowmobiles are a viable form of commuter transport; I’ve seen many parked at local bars. I even saw one at a grocery store.

On Friday’s drive, a coyote ran across the road in front of me just outside of Dubuque. It was probably in a hurry to find more hand lotion, too.

Today’s Bad Decision: Forgetting to fill up with gas before leaving La Crosse for Lansing. I had just passed through La Crescent and by the last gas station for 32 miles when I realized I needed gas. The temperature is about +2 (yea! It finally got above 0!), and I have no cell phone service, so this would be a very inconvenient time to run out of gas. I got into supersaver mode and stuck to 55 mph. I also turned off the heat, given the balmy outside temps. It worked. I got to Lansing just as my car told me rather emphatically that it needed gas NOW.

© Dean Klinkenberg, 2011