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Final Trip Post

My recollections are growing vague...

We left the Badlands and headed east on I-90. That night, we stopped in Jackson, MN to camp. At the exit we chose, there was a state park and a KOA campground- we decided to try for the state park. We were also on empty, with about 30 miles left according to the dash. The signs indicated that the state park was 9 miles away, so we decided to get gas in the morning. Following the signs to the state park led us past a historical homestead site and into massive amounts of cornfields. As it was about 6:00pm Saturday night, we were listening to Prairie Home Companion. There was something poignant about listening to Garrison Keillor, driving through cornfields on a dirt road, on my first trip through Minnesota. We drove and drove and drove, at least 11 miles, looking for another sign directing us toward the state park. At some point, we realized that we were not going to find it and that we barely had enough gas to turn around and make it back to the gas stations next to the Interstate. So, KOA it was.

My first thoughts upon climbing out of the car in Minnesota were of humidity. It had been 2 weeks of almost no humidity and all of a sudden, I was smacked in the face with a wall of moisture. I'm sure it was nothing like I had dealt with most of the summer in Atlanta, but it felt so thick you could cut it with a knife. And it smelled funny.

All of the tent campsites at this particular KOA were lined up about 15 feet from the edge of the Super 8 motel parking lot. All illusions of "wilderness" were officially shattered. We went for a swim and made dinner. While we were making dinner, one of the most bizarre experiences of the trip occurred. A middle aged-man, probably in his 40s walked up to us. We had seen him and his 2 sons, both teenagers, while swimming. He informed us that they were about to watch a movie and and asked if we would like to join them. With perfectly straight faces, the pinnacle of politeness, we informed him that we were very tired and would be going to sleep well before a movie would end, thank you. SKETCHY!!!

At least, we thought we would be going to bed. We did not count on the noise of the monster truck rally across the street nor the street lights from the motel parking lot keeping us awake.

The next morning, we hopped back in the car and headed for Chicago. We stopped briefly in Wisconsin for gas, just to say that we had stopped in Wisconsin. We hit Chicago toll booth traffic about 3pm and I got to put my new stick-shift driving skills to the test. We drove to Kate's cousin's Rachel's apartment in Wheaton where we were spending the night. Rachel wasn't feeling too well, so Kate and I drove into the city, in search of a piercing parlor. I called my friend Kindri in SanFran who used to live in Chicago and had gotten her nose pierced there, for a recommendation, which she cheerfully supplied. An hour later, I had a new piercing and we sat down to some Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

All that night I was so tired, but could not yawn because it hurt my nose to stretch it that much.

The next day, we got up early, went to meet some more of Kate's cousins before they went to work, and headed south down I-65 towards Atlanta. It Kentucky, it was strange to drive by Mammoth Cave NP without stopping. Kate had saved tons of work for this last day of driving, so I drove most of the way. Once inside the perimeter, we both pretty much lost it, dying laughing as I tried to steer, faced with the reality that we were back in Atlanta, trip over, and had to return to work in less than a week.

Labels: travel

posted by CP @ 11:17 AM 1 thoughts