June 18, 2010
Day 1 – 43: Defying Gravity
Day 2 – 3: Miracle Making
I woke up at 7:45 AM to the sound of thunder and lightning. It was like an alarm clock went off. Since I had parked my truck on the highest point in the campground, I instantly jumped out of the back of my truck and moved it to lower ground. I had to admit I was pretty scared for a moment or two.
Since I could not go back to sleep, I started my day by choosing my morning meditation above and leaving Granger, Indiana, around 8:30 AM. I headed west on Interstate 90 and drove through Gary, Indiana, and downtown Chicago. Luckily, I passed through Chicago after the morning rush hour, so I didn’t run into heavy traffic.
I continued north on Interstate 90 towards Madison, Wisconsin.
I spent the entire day driving and reflecting on the 49 days with my family and friends. I also thought about my beautiful time with my sister, brother-in-law, and uncle in Niagara Falls. I questioned myself for leaving all of the love and security offered by my family and friends for something completely unknown and uncertain. I thought about turning my chariot around several times and heading back to North Carolina, but something told me to keep going. I thought to myself that If I honestly were about to face my physical death, I would want to experience it doing something that I truly loved, such as traveling and visiting places I’d never visited.
And so I forged onward.
Once I reached Minnesota, I decided to take Highways 14/61, along the western banks of the Mississippi River. It was here that I began my search for a campsite for the night. It wasn’t until I reached Red Wing, Minnesota, that I found one I liked.
I stopped to eat a very late lunch and then stocked up on some groceries. I took a moment to log in to my computer and found an email from my sister. Embedded in the email was a photo we took on the Maid of the Mist after the boat left the falls.
We both were soaking wet.
After I checked into my campsite, I began to work on my journal. Within minutes, I was surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes. They were everywhere. I took a few moments to walk around the campground and took the following photos.
The Mississippi River
The Mosquito Farm
Mosquito offers the following wisdom:
- bringing energy within,
- control of flow.
It was sunset around 9:00 PM, and I went to bed shortly afterward, exhausted from the 9-hour drive through Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota.