29 FALL 2019 ISSUE 01 / VOL . 01 SNOWGOER . COM

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I DIDN ’ T GROW UP IN northern Minnesota , technically . I was raised in the suburbs of the Minneapolis-St . Paul metropolitan area affectionately known as the “ Twin Cities .” But my brother and I did grow up with a cabin – it seems most people in Minnesota do – and it was there that I first learned to love snowmobiling .

As fate should have it , it was slightly before my 14th birthday that my parents began new careers in the neighboring town to our cabin in Park Rapids , Minnesota , and our family uprooted itself to northwest Minnesota , an area roughly 90 minutes from Fargo , North Dakota ( also the nearest major city ).

Many winters we burned fuel on a 1980 Yamaha Enticer 250 , then its sibling the Yamaha 1983 340 Exciter , before finally graduating to a pair of mid- ’ 90s Polaris Indy Lites .

I remember the trails – with my neighbor and friend Adam we would often ride around in the Two Inlets State Forest trail system , and came to know the Two Inlets Country Store – which was nominated as one of Snow Goer ’ s 101 Best Snowmobile Pit Stops for its spec fuel and food offerings – quite well from our time riding around . We would weave through seemingly endless twists and turns , across legal fields and lakes , then back again to do it the next day .