Tough Mudders

Earlier this week marked 5 months since my mother-in-law passed away. Some days it still feels like fresh grief for Jim, his sister, and dad. That's when I decided I should get Up North and see my own mom. Can't take her presence for granted. 

So I hit the road at 8 a.m. and headed north. I had my route planned out with several stops to make during my 4-hour trek to Grantsburg.

Stop 1: Hawkeye Dairy in Abbotsford. Can't break my tradition of ice cream for breakfast when I'm going solo for the long haul.

Stop 2: Buy lottery tickets in Luck. Still want to be that hometown girl from Luck who got lucky!!

Stop 3: Say hello to dad. You can tell they had tons of snow since his wreath pretty green. The other sign that they had lots of snow that melted is that top photo on the way to the cemetery. I'm gonna start calling my Honda "Moses" after successfully parting the Red Sea.

Made it to Mom's a little after noon. Not bad. I told Mom we could go wherever she wanted for lunch and we could drive wherever. I was hers for the afternoon. She had "walleye fingers" on her mind – which she enjoys at The Pour House in Siren – but we decided to take the scenic route to get there. She wanted to show me some places she lived as a child and went to school. 

By the time we turned off on the first super curvy road, I said, "Mom, it's like we're 4-wheeling! At least my Honda has 4 wheels!"

First historic site was where she went to grade school. While the Wood Creek School house is gone, they at least had a sign she could stand near. I made sure to get the street sign in there, too, so I'd know where it is! 

From there we went to what is left of the homestead. She was not kidding when she told us she walked 2 miles to school! Uphill both ways! There is a steep ravine that had to be tough going up on the way to school and the way home. She told me about seeing a bear on the other side of it once. And said on winter days when it was really cold, her dad (Grandpa Ernie) would hitch up the sleigh to take her to school since the car wouldn't start in the cold weather either.

The genealogy nerd in me was eating this up!!

We also ate the Walleye Fingers and Buffalo Chicken Sandwich at The Pour House, too. After a leisurely lunch, she wanted to show me another place she lived in childhood.

She thinks it was at the corner of Dan Johnson and Olsen roads. How's that for Scandinavian heritage? I let her think it over while I captured a trumpeter swan out for a swim. She still wasn't sure but figured it would be familiar to her if we headed west on Olsen Road. Which, mind you, was a dirt (aka MUDDY) road with too many pot holes to mention.

I felt like I was in a video game zig-zagging around the pot holes. Then the game got interesting. My "low fuel" light came on. I said, "Mom, you better know how to get us back to town because if I have to call for help, I don't know where we are."

After much jostling and laughter, we got to a road that headed west.

Not muddy exactly. Just a fresh pile of dirt that the grader just laid. More laughter and more 4-wheeling adventures. When we got to a road with a sign that said Daniels 70, I asked if this was Highway 70 leading to Grantsburg. Mom's like, "Yes, we're in Daniels Township."

Well that must have been an Old 70 because it went back north. Meanwhile, I'm keeping a close eye on that Low Fuel light and hoping it's not too much of a wrong turn. At one point I said, "Mom, you realize when I get home and tell Jim about this he'll ask me why I was asking a 91-year-old for directions."

At least we made it to a gas station and her house for a little more visiting before I hit the road.

One final selfie for the road. As I left, Mom said, "Thanks for the date!" My pleasure. Haven't had one-on-one time with her in forever. It was awesome.

From there I headed home via Burnett Dairy Cheese Factory. I ran into Mike, who Jim and I worked with years ago at the newspaper in Rapids. He's been living just outside of Grantsburg – next to my aunt and uncle if you want to talk even smaller world.

Then my twin walked in for my second date of the day. We had a small bowl of Wisconsin S'mores Ice Cream for supper. Yup, my day came full circle with ice cream for two meals. Ha.

Yucky drive back in rain and road construction but Moses got me home safely. I see a car wash in my future tomorrow, though!