So, perhaps you are familiar with the Great Midwest Trivia Contest, an annual trivia marathon hosted at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Perhaps you know that at the end of this month, I will be attending for my third consecutive year (which makes me a relative nøøb, considering the long-standing tradition of the Bank of Kaukauna team, of which I am proud to be a part).

Perhaps you remember that last year it was really, really cold and snowy, and at about the halfway point, Denny’s windshield washer fluid froze. Yes, it had antifreeze in it. It was just that cold. It made for a hellacious 6-hour drive, because the trucks around us were splashing muddy, icy slush onto the windshield, which made seeing very difficult. We had to stop–quite literally–every five miles to clean the windshield. The same thing happened on the trip back.

So, imagine my delight when I learned that United airlines is offering flights from Cedar Rapids to Appleton for only $158. Imagine my double-delight when I realized that Northwest is matching that deal, and I have enough miles on Northwest to fly free. I’m splitting the cost of Denny’s ticket with him, because it is worth $80 to me not to have to spend 12 hours driving through ice and snow when we’re exhausted from the trivia weekend already.

It’s really improving my mood about the whole thing. Trivia is…well, it’s an experience. It’s 50 consecutive hours of questions approximately every 3 minutes–it goes from Friday night to Sunday night. Sleeping, while possible, isn’t easy or comfortable. While it’s something that one part of me dreads, I wouldn’t miss it, either. It’s good friends, good food, the thrill of victory (hopefully), and good rabblerousing all around. Let me tell you, knowing that I won’t have to face 12 hours of scary winter driving is making me much less stuck up about the whole thing.

In other news, something smells weird. Is it you?