The Quiet Charm of Nowhere Pt3

Reaching the hilled crest of Duluth, one detour in, and a wrong turn placed us on top a slick snow coated thirty degree pitched hill. With some hesitation @Kommienezuspadt moved us forward towards our GPSed destination, and we begin to slide. Brakes locked and pumping, there was nothing to slow us down except the bottom of the hill. We were objects in motion, free falling into the uncontrollable. A spaceship hurtling through space & time unable to stop itself from hitting any thing in our way. @Kommienezuspadt took a quick deviation down a left snow covered side street dodging two cars and swerving sideways before slowing our motion to a stop. Panic breath fogged windows.

“Nice save.” I compliment him. @Kommienezuspadt drove on, hearts thumping, palms sweating, white knuckles, towards averting more hills until reaching the lower bank area of downtown. Our continual forward motion to nowhere keeps up asking what the hell we are doing.

Entering long foreboding County Highway 61 northbound, white static snow blinds our windshield, six inches of fresh unplowed powder, and we contemplated our life choices that have led us up to this point. In my twenties and even thirties I allowed myself the luxury of making bad decisions. They made good stories and punctuated memories. My firm belief: it is not a true adventure until something goes wrong, an oh sh*t moment, and it all suddenly gets really real. Good stories never begin on warm sunset beaches holding hands and cocktails. That's how they end. Bad ideas are usually good in theory. They help carve character. Third type fun versus type two fun- Those that look back at the memory and smile but hate it in the moment and there are those that enjoy the moment in the moment, no matter how scary and out of their comfort zone it is.

I told myself, once I turned forty, stop making bad decisions and make wise choice. Some ideas should stay in the “don't do” filing bin. It was time I became wiser and to choose directions that lead to better outcomes with more pleasurable endings rather than finding myself sleeping under bridges, freezing outdoors, hungry, stranded, broke, and all those bad scenarios. Subjective preference... and we were about to enter a point of no return: two city dudes trying to hack it in the Great barren North Woods of Minnesota. With no real way out if sh!t got real, or too cold, all the above bad bad not good things that could happen.

We left Duluth with the intent to reach Two Harbors. From there we'd travel north up the desolate back roads for forty miles at the mercy of the weather and the Universe. Ten pm on a Tuesday night, knee deep in a snow storm, we questioned the absurdity and soundness of our decision to drive through potential unplowed roads, with no cell reception, and limited Tesla battery power. A road very few lived, on the way to Nowhere. Worst case- I brought snowshoes.

Careful consideration and quick debate, we decided to take the wiser road and deviated the adventure to a hotel with a hot tub. There we soaked our woes, and melted our worries, as well as our toes. Tomorrow we could continue the long travel to nowhere in much better, brighter, less snowy, but colder conditions.