Day 3
Woke up to the birds signing and man! was their song alive. Nothing like waking up in the great wide open, ready for the day. I watched the sky for a bit, the big trees providing cover from the bright sun. Wrote in my journal while Elana practiced yoga on the beach. Not many other campers - a young friendly couple across the way and a family with a little kid who kept racing down the drive on his 3 wheeler. Reminded me of my Cousin Will. Oh, to be young and free again! But also, we are still young . 'You are as young as you think you are' is something I firmly believe. Age is all relative and I'd like to think I'm getting younger by the day. Physically, I am learning how to nurture my body. Mentally, I am learning how to simplify. The longer you live, the more clear things become and I'm not trying to make it more complicated than that.
How do you keep track of that type of stuff? I mean, how do you measure wholeness or simplicity or whatever you want to call it? I feel free everyday so I guess that's a start. There's a lightness in my step and gratitude in my heart and that's more than enough for me. After packing up what meager camping belongings we had, we drove to the beach because we saw a trail head and wandered into the woods. The terrain in Michigan is interesting because it's flat with swampy grasslands, plenty of mosquitoes and tall bare trees. I've never seen something like it, so many of them rising to the sky, the sun peaking through. It's as if they're saying "thank you Lord, thank you Earth, here we stand, a testament to you." Rising up to sing praises! Grasping for something beyond yet complete in their being. Beautiful and haunting (as most beautiful things are.) Went to the beach after our hike. The water was ice cold. We didn't go in, just sat on the beach laughing, talking, running around. The sunshine shinning down, the laughter so real. A day to remember. Headed to the car to take the ferry from Muskagoon to Milwaukee. We were beat and wanted to stay in the car napping but the attendants came and told us we had to get out. Spent too much on overpriced ferry beer (Spotted Cow, a Milwaukee favorite and albeit pretty tasty), playing drinking games to ward off the tiredness. Came to life as we pulled into the bay (the excitement that a new place brings) and raced to the roof so we could watch the city come into sight. Chilly, chilly up there. Pretty place with a lazy river that runs through it, Milwaukee that is.
Day 4
Hit the road first thing this morning. Dropped Elana at the Milwaukee airport to fly back to New York. Sad to see her go but understand this is the way of the road. Drove the first two hours no issue, headed for Sioux Falls. Cruising right along, on my own in the great wide open, as it was meant to be. Hit the next two and my was that beautiful. Wisconsin sure is something! Rolling hills and farms as far as the eye can see. THIS IS AMERICA. You can feel it in the land...this is what we're made of.* Drove from Wisconsin into Minnesota, over the Mississippi. Woo-eh is that a sight! Was wondering how more people don't know about this breath taking area but then I opened my travel book and they were talking about it. Apparently even Bob Dylan wrote a song about this area.
*(Side note: This was the first time I began to realize a part of my push to drive across the country was because I wanted to see what we were made of, how we could end up in the political situation we were in and to truly understand the fellow people of my country.)
Flying down the road in Minnesota you should have seen my face. Smile wide, country blasting, nothing but me and the open road. This is what I craved. The plains so far as the eye can see. Would sure be cool to see a thunderstorm here. Parts of the land look pink. Read in my book it has something to do with rose quartz? Not sure.
Day 5
On the road today to see the Bad Lands. They say this is where the true west starts. Man, I can't wait.
