Up North - For the Last Time

Leaving Ocean Springs, we headed North again - this is where our trip really starts to cover some ground. Having traveled the eastern US pretty extensively for a month, we were finally setting off to head north and west for good. I'm pretty excited at this point - we spent a week in the South, which is good, but it isn't the West. It isn't the totally unknown, new experiences that lay ahead at the Rockies and beyond, and I was ready to get moving and to get to see something truly new.

Monday took us to a campground in central Mississippi along the Natchez Trace Parkway. It was part of a small park at Rocky Springs, MS, a long abandoned town that was the focus of the park. We explored the trails through the town, but all that is left besides a brick church is a few safes and a well. We took some time to explore, hike, and even go on a short run in other parts of the park. It was good to stretch our legs, but sleeping was difficult that night - with no breeze and oppressive humidity, it was the most uncomfortable night of the trip so far.

We drove a long way on Tuesday, all the way across the Mississippi River and into the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri. This drive along the river delta was a vast change of scenery; the gently rolling forests of the Southeast were replaced with flat fields and agriculture on a huge scale. Soy, cotton, and corn dominated the view and slowly transitioned to sorghum and rice as we headed north. (I was surprised at the scale of rice production we saw: Arkansas, of all places, is planted with rice for miles on end.)

Our campsite in the National Forest bordered a small creek: the water was vastly different than rocky eastern rivers; everything is flat, muddy, and sandy. A thick fog covered the campsite during the evening and the following morning, making it impossible to dry out our shower towels, dishes, or anything else. Since Katie's A/C hadn't been working in Ocean Springs, humidity, at this point, had been our toughest enemy for about a week and a half - all we wanted was a sunny, dry day.

A foggy, muddy creek at Mark Twain NF

Wednesday we drove through St. Louis at lunchtime and got an obligatory picture with the Gateway Arch. The structure is massive, much taller than I imagined, and even has a lobby, museum, and theater in a big underground complex beneath it. The Arch marks the starting point of Lewis and Clark's journey, so the museum was all about that journey. It was really interesting and exceptionally well-done; it's a place I could go back and take hours to read every plaque and quote, which is a rare feeling for me.

The Arch - probably more impressive on a sunny day.

The drive into Illinois was a majestic reminder that corn is king (along with corn's new comrade, wind energy.) There is corn everywhere, and to think that this was only just Illinois - nevermind Iowa or Nebraska - is almost scary. After staying Wednesday night at a wildlife preserve west of Chicago, we headed into the city for lunch and to say goodbye to Brett as he took the train back to Virginia.

It was a beautiful day in Chicago, and we first walked to see Cloud Gate at Millennium Park. This was a feat in its own - almost the whole place was a logistical mess since we unfortunately visited on the Thursday before Lollapalooza. This giant reflective bean is almost as strange as the life-size Parthenon in Nashville; it's one of those things that's neat but still bewildering. The intense blue and white contrast in the sky made for a really pretty and remarkable sight of the Windy City.

The bean

The obligatory 'mirror pic'

Clouds on Cloud Gate

After eating lunch beneath the Chase Tower, we said farewell to Brett, who was heading back home to get ready for VT in August - leaving just Jenna and I again until we meet up with my high school friend Drew later on in August.

We left Chicago but immediately ran into trouble - it took us five different roads and at least a couple extra hours to find an Illinois state welcome sign. For some reason, Illinois doesn't put up many signs, and even the one we settled for was half-hidden behind a bush.

After the sign ordeal, we hit the road to Ann Arbor, but we were stopped again by car troubles. The alternator failed that evening, meaning the van's battery wasn't charging and that there was no way we could run the lights to make it to Ann Arbor. So, we stopped, purchased a new alternator, and had to make our first impromptu motel room stay since there wasn't enough daylight to fix it on the spot. Although this was a hit budget- and schedule-wise, I swapped the bad alternator for the new in the motel parking lot at 7 AM, and we were back on the road the next morning with the electrical system working just fine. We made it to Ann Arbor on Friday, ran some errands, and met up with Sheila, Jenna's best friend from her Michigan-based internship last summer.


It was tough to hit car troubles, although we should be constantly expecting them - and this one was relatively minor. The alternator quitting was a hit for us, but it was made worse by the repair situation. It was early and in a parking lot, not to mention I lost a nut and had to walk to go buy a new one - all on top of the fact that it rained all morning. After a couple hours of cold and wet repairs, our spirits were falling pretty low. But, as it goes, the bad was balanced by some fortunate good: we were able to clean up and shower after fixing the van; the new alternator fixed the issue; and most importantly - we took a picture at the Michigan welcome sign. It was special because it was number 24 - halfway through the states. It was also special because it was August 1 - one whole month down and two to go.

Ultimately, that's what motivates me and inspires me, even with the big risks faced every day: despite having a long way to go, I have come so far already.