Friends of mine moved to Michigan about a year ago. I was able to visit them in May, but I hadn't spent any time with them since, so I was anxious to have a reason to visit them. Their middle daughter was having her 5th birthday party, so that seemed like as good a reason as any to make a trip out there!
Here's the thing about traveling in Minnesota/Wisconsin/Illinois/Indiana/Michigan in the winter - WEATHER. I was holding my plans very loosely since I would be going on the first weekend of January - with potential of snow or bad weather. It is about an 8-9 hour drive on perfect roads, so I decided that if there looked like any chance of inclement weather, I would just cancel my trip.
I checked the weather a lot on Wednesday and Thursday, and other than Chicago getting a few inches on Thursday, everything seemed fine along my route, so I decided to go. I drove on Friday and got there late Friday night. The girls had stayed up to say hi to me, and I had a great late-night chat with my friends after the littles went to bed.
Saturday consisted of a great breakfast in PJs, a super fun birthday party, and a night out with the adults. Such a great day. I really love and miss that family, so I was just trying to soak it all in.
On Saturday night it started to snow and there were reports of about 20 inches coming. YIKES! Then on Monday the temperature was supposed to PLUMET. So my choice was to drive on Sunday in some snow (and try to beat most of it) or wait for it to pass and drive in extreme cold (and risk anything happening to my car and being stuck on the side of the road). Originally, my plan was to hang out on Sunday some, but with that report I decided to see what it looked like on Sunday morning and adjust my plans according to the weather. They got about 5 inches overnight, but it wasn't supposed to snow more until the afternoon, so I decided to go to church with them and leave from there.
I'm glad I drove on Sunday - the reports on the roads out of Chicago on Monday were TERRIBLE. It was slow-going on Sunday, too, but at least everyone seemed to be taking their time and not going into the ditch! The only portion of the road that was treacherous on Sunday was through Indiana - they actually had closed the Toll Road, but there was a detour that was totally fine, so it all worked out.
So, the summary of this post is that I had a WONDERFUL time and that it is important to be flexible when traveling in the winter. AND to always have a car full of winter clothes. I honestly wouldn't have felt as good about leaving on Sunday if I hadn't packed my full snow suit and boots and extra warm hats and gloves. Even though I wasn't expecting the storm when I left, it's always important to have those things in your car during Minnesota winters! I also was giving myself plenty of time to not feel rushed, and I decided ahead of time that I would pull off and get a hotel room if I needed to. There's no reason to push something beyond what is safe. In the end, the travel wasn't that bad, but it never hurts to be prepared and have those plans in the back of your mind so that you don't worry.
I'm already excited for another trip out to Michigan - once the winter goes away!
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