The Windmill Posts

The Long Way Home to Myself

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I don’t know where this ends. I just know it’s time to begin. 10/28 (1)

I don’t know where this ends. I just know it’s time to begin. 10/28 (1)

I said when I left my job I was going to get in my car and drive west until I found an ocean. Today I got in my car. I’ll be posting frequently, as this trip is actually considered therapy by my care team, and it’s all about reflection. Itineraries have been emailed to a friend, with contact info all around. You’ll just have to read to find out where else I end up. Enjoy! Hit the about link to the left for background.

It was a simple day. Started off familiar, as it was my home state and I had just run a test drive that way last week.

While it was rainy, it was still exciting. No hope for the top down as it was 42 to start and peaked at 55 or 51 or something. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

One of my snippets below is about beginning to realize the ocean is very very far away. On one hand it really is, and this is going to be a long week getting there. But on the other hand, it’s just down the road, left turn before Seattle and I’m there.

I feel like going somewhere humbles it. Disney Parks are magical until you’ve been there. They’re still great, but once you’ve been you’ve spent a lot of the magic. So I’m hoping this trip humbles not only myself, but the country I live in somehow. And the distances between the interesting bits.

Haven’t felt the depression today and just a bit of anxiety. Not much for me but might kill a normal person. 🙂 I attribute these things to the excitement of the first day. But I’m almost willing to own it, which is a crazy thought. I had a few times where I thought this was stupid and I should just go or stay home. I guess I just waited them out and kept going, not bad advice for life in some cases.

When I crested the hill and saw the Missouri river, the rolling hills, and the blue sky and clouds it was probably my first WOW moment. No doubts on the trip anymore.

Tomorrow is a tiny bit shorter, but with prettier scenery and what I understand is a Very Large drug store. I get to see Devil’s tower! Very very excited for that one!

Author’s note: I think I’ll be able to use this as a template for future days posts, which should make things easier. I’m already pretty adept at integrating the photos from google photos, so it’ll take less time in the future. Also, if you’re reading this in 2028 and the photos don’t work, it’s because google unlinked them. Or went under.

Deets

  • License Plates: WI, VA, IN, IA, NE, USG, SD, OH, MI, CO, TX, PA, OK, GA
  • States: MN, SD
  • Departed: 9am CDT, 42 degrees, scattered rain. (turned into actual rain quickly)
  • Original ETA 2:53pm CDT
  • Arrival: 4:00pm CDT, 50 degrees and partly cloudy with the most amazing clouds ever
  • Weather: Rainy morning ranging from drizzle to downpour. Rain stopped at the SD border.
  • Budget: Gas TBD, Food above, Hotel below
  • Food: breakfast latte great, lunch BLT delicious, dinner burger tasted like Mom made it. Not a good thing. Fries were decent though.

Snippets

  • A giant bald eagle swooped onto the road trying to get to some carrion, but flew off when I approached. I had to swerve to miss it, but the wingspan was almost the width of the road. Amazing!
  • I started to catch wind on I90 in Minnesota. Nothing horrible, but definately an active driving situation
  • By the time I got to South Dakota I felt like I was driving a curve to the right, compensating for the heavy wind.
  • South Dakota
    • I can totally get behind the 80 mph speed limit
    • Apparently I’m the only one
    • I feel like the trip has really started
    • What is Wall Drug’s annual marketing budget?
  • I have a fear of trucks losing cargo on me, and one lost an ATV door as I was about to pass him. Thankfully it flew like a kite over the shoulder. Still, fear confirmed!
  • Halfway into the first day and I can’t remember the Day of week
  • The more I drive the more I’m beginning to think the ocean is really far away
  • The top of my car (ragtop) feels like a horses hide, which really works nicely with the Rocinante name.
  • Stopped in St. Peter for coffee and bathroom break, a regular latte seemed like a custom order because it wasn’t one of their special drinks

Pictures

Pictures here

Welcome to my morning
I wanted to stop / hotel here because it’s the Missouri river, which is cool. But also because this is one of the places Lew and Clark stopped on their trip upriver. There’s a cool museum and everything talking about the voyage. Which apparently has a season. Boo hoo!
I was very excited to see this sign! On one hand, it’s crazy that one could run across one of them in the wild. On the other hand tasty tasty death danger! (Low SI day except here and once crossing the river.)
I’m sure it’ll happen again, but I was shocked (SHOCKED!) at the hills and how not flat they were. That’s also the river right there, which of course is super cool even if it thinks it’s the longest river in North America. (It’s not.)
This is the second bridge over the river in these towns. It was fun to drive across (twice!) and pretend I was Rain Main. Also, it’s a widely held belief that Lewis and Clark stopped in this area because this bridge and the Interstate 90 bridge both made it easier to get across the river,
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