A friend of mine from high school is celebrating his 3rd wedding anniversary today, happy anniversary Nic and Kaitlyn btw, but in celebrating their 3rd anniversary they also reminded me that we are just a day away from the 3rd anniversary of COVID-19. Tomorrow is the day when borders were closed and we weren't sure what was coming next. It also marks the beginning of some Minnesota ingenuity like an ice toll road to the Northwest Angle.

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I had forgotten about the ice toll road until I ran into a recently uploaded Youtube video that went into thought and reason behind the toll road, even though it only lasted 2 weeks before Mother Nature had other ideas.

The ice road at the time was one of the cheapest ways to get to the unconnected part of Minnesota, as Canada was requiring negative COVID tests per person, which were about $100 a piece at the time, and if you were going and coming back that's two border crossing and $200. Add any people that are with you, and that added up quickly. So for $250 bucks, taking the ice road, while not having to cross the Canadian US border made sense.

While the road didn't last long, it was a pretty inventive and uniquely Minnesota idea to cut down on some costs, while keeping the residents of the NW Angle supplied.

Did you use the road during that two-week span once it was open? I think by that time we were all ready to escape somewhere in our cars.

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