March 15, 2012
Upon waking, I checked the oil in my truck, did some general cleaning and reorganizing, and prepared to drive north on Interstate 75 toward Cartersville, GA. I then performed the “Miracle Making” meditation above.
I stopped in Kennesaw, GA, for some Internet time. My first destination would be 813 Indian Mound Road, Cartersville, GA 30120. (Zip code numbers!)
After briefly stopping at Starbucks, I drove to Etowah Indian Mound State Park. Due to some road construction, the directions were a little different than what I had written down. In other words, I got just a little lost. I began to get a bit frustrated when my friend suddenly showed up to let me know that everything was okay. I snapped the following photo through the front window of my van while driving.
I arrived at the Etowah Indian Mound State Park approximately 20 minutes later. While watching the 15-minute film in the visitors center, my sister called to say that my permanent license plates for my van had arrived and she needed a mailing address. I called the Gadsden, Alabama, post office to ensure they accepted general delivery packages. I provided my sister with the mailing address of the post office and turned my attention back to the Indian mounds.
My first impression was that this site’s great temple, or ceremonial mound, was taller than the ceremonial mound at the Ocmulgee National Monument the day before. I was right. This particular mound was fifteen feet taller, 65 feet to be exact.
I approached the staircase leading up to the top of the mound…
And by the time I reached the top, I had counted 133 steps. I walked to the center of the mound, laid down the stone I had brought from the Ocmulgee National Monument, and then took a moment to say a prayer.
I looked directly overhead and took the following photo. The small cloud formation in the bottom right corner of the photograph fascinated me.
I took the following image from Google Earth. This represents the view of the mounds from above. Note the 34°07′ Parallel.

Google Maps 2012
I walked over to the edge of the ceremonial mound and took the following photograph of the burial mound.
I left the ceremonial mound and walked over to the burial mound. I counted 33 steps to the top of this mound, and it was at this point that I realized something exciting.
Each site I had visited—the Temple Creek Indian Mounds in North Carolina, the Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, Georgia, and this site—had three primary mounds. I couldn’t help but think of the three stars in Orion’s Belt (The Three Kings), the three pyramids in Egypt, and the three mesas at Hopi.
I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds and hiking the nature trail alongside the Etowah River. It was a beautiful spring day, and the temperature was approximately 80 degrees.
I didn’t see a hawk during my visit, which left me with a strange feeling. However, I did find a stone to carry to my next group of mounds. I said goodbye to the park ranger and set out for Gadsden, Alabama, to set up camp and wait for my car tags to arrive the following morning. Here’s where the day gets interesting.
I left Etowah Indian Mound State Park in the early afternoon and decided to take the back roads to Gadsden, Alabama. It was a beautiful day, and I thought the drive through the countryside would be nice. The drive is estimated to take 1 hour and 27 minutes.
I was doing well up until one point. I got lost again and drove about 30 miles out of the way. I recovered from the mishap, but what happened next involved a miracle.
I was driving through the country, happy as you please, when I suddenly crossed a bridge on Highway 278. (See the green dot below.)

Google Maps 2012
I heard a loud bang, like the back of my van had fallen completely off, and then I could hear the air leaking from my back tire. I had a flat! I drove a few hundred feet to the next turnoff, which just happened to be directly in front of Fagan’s Auto Parts junkyard.
As I attempted to change my tire, one of the junkyard dogs came around to say hello. It was a beautiful, tan pit bull. The dog just sniffed my pants and then walked back towards the junkyard. (Yes, I just about peed my pants!)
I began having trouble loosening the tire’s lug nuts and walked to Fagan’s to ask for assistance. The most helpful man you would ever want to meet stopped what he was doing and followed me back to my van.
After several attempts to loosen the nuts, he had to make three separate trips back to the garage to find the tool that worked. He looked at me and said that I was one lucky fellow. If I had the flat anywhere else on the remote highway, I would have been unable to loosen the nuts on my own. I couldn’t help but think about the miracle mentioned in the 72 Names of God angel meditation above.
After several more attempts, we finally loosened the nuts and changed the tire. I asked the gentleman if I owed him anything for his help, and when he said no, I gave him all of the cash—$15—from my wallet. To me, he was most definitely an angel. I was extremely grateful to him for his help.
With thirty miles to reach my destination and a few hours of sunlight, I decided to take my chances and continue toward Gadsden on my spare tire.
Pulling away from Fagan’s, I noticed a red-tailed hawk sitting in a tree directly across the highway, waiting for me to resume my adventure. I thought about turning around to photograph the hawk but decided to keep going. I made it to Gadsden, Alabama, just fine and luckily drove right by a Walmart. Their tire center was still open, so I pulled in and had them take a look at my flat tire. After examining the tire, they determined that it could not be repaired, and they had to order a replacement. They told me it would be in the following morning. I told them to order the tire since I had to wait for my license plates to arrive in the mail.
Typically, I would have just spent the night in the Walmart parking lot, but since I was filthy from changing the flat, I was led to a nearby campground with shower facilities. I ended up at the Noccalula Falls Park Campground.
I spent the evening doing laundry and calling family and friends to let them know I was okay. I went to bed around 10:30 (Central Standard Time), wholly exhausted but grateful for making it safely to Gadsden.