Welcome to Minnesota

Stan sailed smoothly through seven states on his return from Tucson today, covering over 1,600 miles in a day and a half. But just as he breezed past the "Welcome to Minnesota" sign in his eighth and final state, the trap was sprung. Cold, wind gusts and a 30 percent chance of snow flurries created a nasty squall of slippery roads, cars strewn helter-skelter in the ditches and stop-and-go traffic. The poor chap in Stan's driveby photo at right was heading south when his light-duty pickup truck slid down into the center ditch, flipped over and came up the other side, turtled in the north-bound passing lane.
This pathetic sight had an immediate cautionary effect on passing gawkers, as the mean traffic speed henceforth slowed dramatically all the way to Owatonna, before wearing off.
The sight also served to remind home-bound Stan just exactly why he left the state in the first place.
Two years ago, while making the annual winter escape down I-35, another crash closed the interstate near Faribault, forcing a round-about backroads detour. Then later on, as Stan and Kathleen neared Des Moines in a raging snowstorm, they passed the sad wreckage of a second fatal accident.
Thankfully, tonight Stan slid safely through the tundra just in time for a hot supper and a very warm greeting from spouse and hound.