Thanksgiving in minnesota (the worst drive)

Who would have guessed Minnesota would be the least wintry place we would be over the Thanksgiving holiday?

The Mrs and I ventured north a week ago today (11/25/25) to spend some time with the boy and his family (we were also joined Thanksgiving day by my sister and our daughter-in-law's mother). It was a nice time in St. Paul, and we were fairly cozy in their little house of three.

The drive there Tuesday wasn't terrible. The worst part is always getting through Chicago. It was foggy, misty, and rainy the first couple hours, but actually cleared up a big as we hit the city. Traffic did slow a few times along I-90, but never once came to a standstill. The rain picked up again a couple hours south of the Twin Cities, and got a bit heavy an hour away. Fortunately it calmed down as we rolled into St. Paul around 4:30pm. Total time was right about 8 hours, 45 minutes (just like google said).

We didn't really do much while there. Wynn is just about to start walking, and plenty mobile. He is also talking quite a bit. We were happy to hear something resembling "Grandma" and "Grandpa" soon after arriving. So we played with him, read books, took a couple walks, ordered takeout food and lived off that and leftovers.

It snowed a few inches on top of the rain Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, so Wednesday we needed to buy a snow shovel and ice scraper for our hosts.

Thursday (Thanksgiving day) my sister arrived around 1:30, and Ricci's mom shortly after. R's mom made the turkey (our hosts are vegetarian). It was also her birthday, so we sang happy birthday when we had pie. The meal was devoured around 2:30 or so, then it was time for football. My sister left shortly after eating, and the rest of the day was spend lounging and snacking.

Friday we ventured out to a market at the Palace Theatre in downtown St. Paul, as well as the Minnesota Children's Museum, where Wynn got soaking wet and had to wear grandpa's t-shirt home. They were both very cool places, and only a mere 2 miles down 7th Street from their house. 

Saturday, then, is where everything went sideways, upside down, inside out, and every other type descriptor no one wants to use in winter weather...

We left St. Paul just before 7am, while it was still dark and snow had just begun to fall. The Minnesota-Wisconsin border is only about 20 minutes south, and snow had picked up, but still wasn't bad. It was maybe around Madison, WI when I began to think about the fact we might not make it home on this day. We discussed veering to my mom's house in north-central Illinois, but soon discovered a stretch of road we would have taken was already shut down due to snow. In Rockford, Illinois I considered getting a hotel for the night, but we decided to trudge on toward Chicago. At the northern-most toll plaza/rest area, we stopped to get something to eat, and traffic had been crawling at around 45 mph for miles. We went most of the rest of the way through the city around 30 mph - but at least we never came to a standstill. I almost wished we had a few times, because ice was freezing on the windshield and neither of us could see to well (see pic above). By the time we got through Chicago and to our exit at Chesterton, IN we were seriously considering getting a hotel there. It was getting dark, but I thought we would see if the snow let up any as we made the 10-mile jaunt down to route 30. It only continued to get worse, and the roads, as well as our vision, deteriorated with every slowly passing mile. This is when I kicked myself for not having already stopped for the day. I was also getting more and more worried not only about not making it home, but not even making it to a hotel. Somehow - likely by the grace of God - we made it to Warsaw, IN. A mere 43 miles from our house, but I could no longer see straight, and that section of route 30 was closed. So we stopped at Meijer and got some wine and cheese, and found a room at the Tru by Hilton Hotel. Probably the best $100 I've spent in a while.

All told, Saturday's 564-mile trip that should have taken just under 9 hours, took just over 12 to get even that close to home. Had we not stopped, it would have been at least 14 hours all the way. The most miserable winter weather I can ever remember driving in. I stopped counting cars and semis in the ditch at a dozen, and there were probably that many more. I'm hoping to recover from the trauma at some point, because it is much too early in the winter to already be afraid to drive anywhere...

In spite of that, though, it WAS a nice trip. We have much to be thankful for. So, here's a couple pics to remember the good part.