It's been a while since I've posted and I know this blog entry comes a bit late. I've been very busy with moving to a new apartment and all the other busy stuff that school and life brings you. After a treacherous drive up to Wisconsin, I was able to relax a bit more. The weather was not too bad overall and I was still somewhat acclimated to the cold. I was able to get by with a hoodie and a stocking hat to keep warm.
During the time, hunting was going on. My uncle and some other guys were up from Louisiana and you could definitely tell it was a bit cold for them. It did snow a bit and I think they were a bit excited to see it.
I still had to do work with my MBA classes. I also ended up sleeping a lot more than I usually do, but overall the time really flew. I hung out with my friends, especially Jake, as much as possible and also visited with family. One night I went to Stevens Point and partied up a little.
On a following day, I set a few mouse traps by the Cougar.
I also made sure my Grandma's snow blower would start and let it run for a while. I bet a lot of people I know in Texas have never even seen a snow blower. I remember having to explain the concept to my girlfriend.
The time went by pretty fast. It always seems to go faster than I like. The drive back was interesting. I had to leave a day early due to the threat of more freezing rain coming through Iowa again. I'd be leaving the same day that everyone else was heading back from Thanksgiving. The first place I topped off gas was in Tomah. It was interesting seeing the squeaky cheese curds sign as I remember my girlfriend mentioned how her grandparents talked about eating, "Squeaky Wisconsin cheese."
When I head back to Texas, I usually leave really early in the morning like 4-5am. I get to see the sunrise along the way. This sunrise was when I was in Minnesota.
I thought I was going to be smart and make the tripometer and odometer show all 2's. My 4am math wasn't too good.
I ended up at Dudley's to get gas. I see this time they actually have a sign up. One of the last times, they didn't.
Their new logo kind of looks like a dying lion.
Overall the weather wasn't too bad in Iowa. I had bought a CB radio for my car with weather band to listen to weather forecast. It's a lot safer to do this instead of checking the weather on the phone. It's also entertaining listening to some of the truckers go back and forth at each other. Right now I don't have a good mounting spot so it sits in my passenger seat.
The weather forecasts were calling for possible freezing rain by Kansas City. By the time I hit Missouri it was starting to sprinkle. I had to slow way down through Kansas City as there was a ton of standing water and I hydroplaned a little bit in certain areas. Also, the temperature was around 33-34 degrees so it was right on the border of freezing. By the time I got midway through Kansas, the rain stopped for the most part and the roads were dry, but you could definitely see the white glaze of frost on all the vegetation.
The problem with driving at the same time everyone else is that the Kansas travel plazas were backed up and there was a line waiting for gas.
I guess it was interesting seeing some of the characters on the road that day.
When I hit the Oklahoma border, some bridge construction shut down a lane of traffic and traffic was backed up for 10+ miles. It took me almost an hour to get through this traffic. At least listening to the truckers on the CB was entertaining.
In Oklahoma, there was an area with a bunch of Christmas lights. It was lit up when I came up, so these people are definitely ready for Christmas.