On the road again
Emily Bialkowski
Argus Managing Editor
There should have been a camera on my face the afternoon my husband informed me, while driving to the Eitzen Family Fun Fest, that, minus county roads and main highways, Minnesota has gravel roads.
What!?
That would explain why all the cars are so dirty. I even thought to myself prior to my husband sharing this tidbit: Why are all the cars so dust covered here?
Being new to the community every weekend is an adventure for our family. It’s actually quite exciting to have so many opportunities to explore. This last weekend it was time to visit my husband’s 94-year-old grandmother in Gays Mills, Wis.
She is phenomenal. She lives on her own, in her own house, still cooks when people come over and makes the best potato salad and cookies.
We googled a route to take from Caledonia to Gays Mills and set off Saturday morning ready to take the road untraveled.
I suggested we take my husband’s truck not knowing what kind of terrain we’d encounter. He felt my car would do, and so off we went in Bluebird. That’s the name of my car, Bluebird. Cheesy, I know, but I had to give up two years worth of savings to put a down payment on that baby so she got a name.
Off we flew on Hwy. 249 with plans of intersecting Hwy. 26. Unbeknownst to us Hwy. 249 turns to gravel as you enter the bluffs. Our six-year-old asked if we even knew where we were going. I sat there bemoaning the fact that I had just washed the car the night before and the fact that we didn’t take the truck.
It’s not like I’ve never driven the countryside before. In 2004 I flew to Washington state with my hubby and drove to Polson, Mont. Now that’s some serious rural driving. You literally drive on the edge of a mountain in a land that has absolutely no indication people have ever inhabited the place. There are no power lines, no street signs and no garbage. There are no cigarette butts, no cattle and no fences. There’s nothing but wide open space and a sharp drop on the right side of the car.
I’ll get used to it. I’ll get new tires come fall while borrowing my husband’s truck for assignments that take me to the countryside.
I will admit, however, you’ve got one beautiful landscape to appreciate here; something that rivals the wild beauty of Montana even.
You can contact Emily Bialkowski at emily.bialkowski@ecm-inc.com
