White Highway

When people ask where I live, I tell them two miles south of Wannaska on Highway 89, and a half mile west on County Road 8. Wannaska in turn is 13 miles south of Roseau, our big city. Wannaska has some amenities, a café, a hardware, a gas station/grocery store, But Roseau is where the jobs are, the movie theater and the Chinese restaurant.

Wannaska is not directly south of Roseau. Highway 89 has to curve a mile west to connect the two towns. When I go to Roseau, I drive a half mile east from our place to Minnesota Highway 89. Two miles north to Wannaska, slow to 40 mph, or stop to mail a letter, or have breakfast, or buy some bolts or some gas and cans of soup.

North from Wannaska three more miles north and the road begins its westward curve. Travelling  along this hypotenuse for two miles takes you another mile north. You are now nine miles straight south of Roseau at the aptly named Nine Mile Corner. This used to be a real ninety degree corner and not a curve. In the old days you zig-zagged from here east, then south, then east some more till you got lined up with Wannaska.

In the 1950s the State decided to rationalize this back and forthing and built the road as we have it today. Layton Oslund, who was a teenager at the time, told me he and his friends were sitting around the warming house at the Wannaska rink discussing the new road and its enticing curves. One of them said, "I bet that's a 100 mile an hour curve there." Another,  who had driven his father's new Chevrolet to the rink, said, "Let's go!" It was indeed a 100 mile an hour curve, in both directions. And mind you, Hwy 89 was a gravel road until the '60s.

If I turn left out of my driveway instead of right, in half a mile I come to an unnumbered township road running north. The 911 grid system has designated it 390th Ave. It runs north for three miles until it hits County Road 4, a paved road. Until a few years ago you could drive down onto the field and continue north another mile on a dirt field road. You only did this in dry weather. From there you drove another mile and three quarters, intersecting Hwy 89 between the curves and just south of the Nine Mile Corner. This little gravel road was part of the old zig-zag route.

But in the interest of profits, the farmer plowed up the field road. I hated to see that and one fall after the harvest I drove across the stubble. It was rough and I didn't do that again. Sometimes coming home from Roseau, I'll cut south on the mile and a quarter road. It has a stretch of woods that appeal to me. Of course, when I reach the field, I have to turn left a half mile over to 89 and on home.

Well about a month ago I got a pleasant surprise. The county has built a new one mile road where the old field road had been. I tried it out. It had not yet been graveled and was quite rough. I checked back two weeks ago. It had been graveled and looked great, but there were barriers up. The county knew that if heavy farm equipment used the road before it had a chance to settled, it would soon be wrecked.

I went back Sunday. The road was still blocked. I'll keep checking. The opening won't be announced on Facebook, I'll have to go and look myself. When the barriers are gone, I'll back up a half mile and hit it at 100 mph, just for old time's sake.

A windy day in the township.