LOST in The Lost Forty

Well, I am finally getting around to blogging about our most interesting Minnesota experience. Over the Christmas holidays, Derek had 10 days off work. On his last day of vacation, I asked him what he wanted to do. His answer: sit in the recliner & watch football all day. But, since Derek's mom & sister were still in town and could watch the kids, I really wanted to get out & do something just the two of us. I threw out two ideas: 1. Go see the movie 'The Blind Side' because he had not seen it yet, or 2. Go to The Lost Forty. The Lost Forty is something we both wanted to experience while we were here. Because of a survey error a long time ago, the area was originally said to be a lake, so the pine trees there were never logged. The trees that are there today are almost 400 years old & their trunks are supposedly the width of 3 people holding hands around the tree. You guessed it, I convinced him to go there with me.

It was a further drive out there than I realized, taking us over an hour. Because the sun was setting around 4:30 at that time, we only had an hour of daylight once we actually got there. We drove through the entrance & maybe a minute in, we realized we were in trouble. All of a sudden, we were in VERY slushy snow & our tires would not move anywhere! I immediately panicked...like severely panicked. I didn't tell Derek this at the time, but I was terrified we were going to be eaten by wild animals! We were stuck in the middle of the Chippewa National Forrest for crying out loud! Seriously, what would we have done if a bear or a mountain lion had come sniffing around the truck? It wasn't like we had the luxury of just driving away...anyway, I digress because we were obviously not eaten by anything.

This is a shot of where we originally got stuck in the snow.

Derek's 'uh oh, we're stuck in the snow face'

My 'uh oh, we're stuck in the snow face' I decided since it was so close to getting dark, I wasn't going to mess around with our rescue. So, I dialed 911. My 911 operator was in Canada & transferred me to the closest sheriff station. I told the lady sheriff that answered the phone, our entire predicament & that we needed her to send out a tow truck or snow plow or something. Her response: she began laughing hysterically. Like, for a really long time she laughed hysterically. Then I heard her say "Hey Marv, you'll never believe this...we've got some Texans...(more hysterical laughing)...that are LOST...in the LOST FORTY!!!...(more laughing)" Finally, she regained composure & said she would send out a two truck to pull us out. So, the waiting game began. While waiting, we had some funny moments. We chatted for a bit, then we just sat quietly listening to the radio. Then, while we were trying to stay warm in the truck because it was -15 degrees outside, we heard this song come one the radio "Aruba, Jamaica...ooh I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama...come on pretty mama..." Derek & I cut our eyes over at each other & totally busted out laughing at the irony. Then, the next song that came on was none other than the main theme song from the movie 'The Blind Side',which of course was option 1 that we didn't do.

We sat in our original stuck position for about 30 minutes, but by then Derek was getting a little restless. He wanted to try to get us out again by himself. So, we started backing up little by little & it actually looked like we might get out for a second...when all of a sudden, the truck started sliding off the road! When we started sliding sideways, I really thought the truck was going to start rolling down the hill. I started screaming "AHHHH! STOP! STOP!!!!!" at Derek, and he started screaming "DONT SCREAM AT ME...SCREAMING DOESN'T HELP! AHHH!" Can you just picture this beautiful marital moment in your minds eye? But, the truck stopped sliding, we didn't roll over, and the tow truck driver finally arrived right before it got dark.

Here is a shot of where the truck got stuck the second time & the tow truck driver trying to figure out how to get us out of there. The tow truck drivers name was Art & he had 4 dogs inside his cab with him! Little did we know, we were about to become good friends with all 5 of them because we were about to spend the next 6 hours with all of them trying to get out of the Chippewa Forrest.

Because of the way the truck was stuck, he couldn't pull us out backward without Derek's truck slamming into the trees. So Art decided to pull us forward because he thought the road ahead made a short little loop & we could just follow his tracks in the snow to get out. WRONG! The road was not a short road...it winded up & down hills for miles & led us deeper into the Forrest. Several times, we got stuck & Art would have to hook up to us & pull us up the hill. Also, several times we BOTH got stuck and Art had to wench up to a tree at the top of the hill & slowly pull us both up the hill. We did this for hours. This was the lovely view we had the entire time.

Then, while trying to wench us both us a steep hill, the tow truck's transmission overheated & blew all of the transmission fluid out of the tail pipe. So now we were both sitting ducks. And, we were so deep into the Forrest, we had no more cell phone service! Derek & Art tried walking up to the top of the hill to see if they got any service but they didn't. We both had Verizon service & I kept picturing 'the people' from their Verizon commercials standing at the entrance of The Lost Forty going 'I ain't about to walk in there." While we were trying to decide whether to start hiking then or to wait until morning, we finally remembered that Derek's truck has onstar, but it wasn't hooked up. All three of us anxiously climb into Derek's truck and we push the button...someone answered! Hallelujah! Of course, before someone could come rescue us, they needed Derek's credit card number & a verbal agreement to be charged $20 a month for the onstar service. About 15 minutes later the onstar was working & we had formulated a plan.

For signing up, we received 30 minutes of complimentary phone calls. However, since we just signed up, the operator had to do all the phone dialing for us & she had to remain on the line during our calls as well. So, Art who was in the backseat of the truck, called a 70 year old buddy of his named Arnie. He needed Arnie to go to his house, tell his wife what was going on, go into his garage & get more transmission fluid, and then bring it out to us so that his truck would start. When Arnie hung up, the sweet onstar lady said "Wow...you guys sure are in a pickle aren't you?" Art explained that the reason he had called Arnie to help us, is because Arnie is a trapper and he knows all the forestry roads better than anyone he knows. How cool is that? I had never met a trapper before, only read about them in history books. While we were waiting for Arnie, we all took a bathroom break...all 7 of us. Art & the dogs walked in front of the trucks, and Derek & I went to the back of the trucks. Now, that was an experience I will never forget. I really doubt I will ever use the restroom again outside at night, in -20 weather, while standing in 2 feet of snow without any toilet paper.

About an hour & a half later, Arnie shows up with the fluid. He looked like he had as much energy as a rambunctious 5 year old, and you could tell that he thought being 'our rescuer' was probably the coolest thing he had ever done. Men. (I said that last word while shaking my head & rolling my eyes) I really wish I would have taken a picture of him too because was such a character. But, the fluid got the truck back up & running and all three of us finally made it to a paved road. I have never been more excited to see pavement in my life. Final time stuck in the Forrest: 6.5 hours.

This is a shot of Derek & Art in front on Art's tow truck. We stopped at a local bar called 'The hoot & hollar' to settle up. Art bought us all a round of drinks & then we hit the road for our hour trip back home. We never even got to see the cool trees.

That night before going to bed, Derek said "The next time I want to sit around all day and watch football....please, just let me sit around all day and watch football."