Day 2 and 3

Friday - Got all 17 dogs rabies shots and were on our way – stopped to drop dogs the other side of Marquette at a place out of the bitter cold and wind inbetween a mall and a “mountain” (well a small one…).  Half way across the UP we ran into a weird thing – even though the temp was about 12 degrees, it started sleeting!!!!!  It kept freezing up the windshield so fast that we had to stop on the side of the road to let the defrost catch up to how cold the windshield was from the cold temp outside!  We saw several people stopping to scrape their windows so it wasn’t just us – that lasted for about 2 hours and then of course, the roads got icy – good time to have 4 wheel drive!!!  Forged ahead and wanted to make it through the expressway spaghetti in Duluth before dark – we just made it going about 40 miles per hour across the UP.

Fed dogs the other side of Duluth behind a gas station out of the wind – the temp actually had risen to about 29 – had gas station sandwiches for dinner and back on the road – it was about 10pm when we drove around Grand Rapids, MN to look for a place out of the wind to drop dogs and spend the nite – found a place between a grocery store and another business – still windy and -8 degrees but better than in a big parking lot.  Thought this was a good time to re-arrange dogs for weight distribution so we put all the light dogs (<45 and="" axle="" back="" front="" heavier="" hoping="" in="" it="" of="" off="" ones="" pounds="" some="" span="" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" take="" the="" tire.="" trailer="" weight="" would="">  Then we moved the back1/4 of the 25 pound pails of meat from under the floor to the big dog boxes on the back of the truck and switched it with the hay Randy had stored there – for the same reason.  It was 17 pails so that 425 pounds should have made some difference – this morning Randy says it’s not noticeable but that surely it must have helped.  So now both the dogs and I have a new pattern to learn with new box assignments, just when we were getting used to the routine!

Got up earlier today per Randy’s request (only once at 5am did I hear a distinct crunching noise like someone or something eating Fritos…..) at 7:30am and on the road by 8:20 – it was -12 degrees and still windy and the dogs didn’t drink very well for breakfast – they were excited to get back in!!!

Stopped at Bagley, MN for dog drop and roads were pretty icy all the way till just before Grand Forks – finally got to put it back in 2 wheel drive- way better gas mileage – I am thinking we get 10 mpg in 2 wheel and ½ that in 4 wheel drive – we just went by a gas station and diesel was $4.20!!

We have made it to Minot, ND by 6:30 Michigan time and are trying to decide whether to go farther or not – it looked like the snow had stopped but now it is bad again – so while we are here at Micky Dees we will decide!

Keep us in your prayers the next 5 days going thru Canada –lots of “challenges” on the roads!!  We love you!!