I've realized I push myself too hard when I'm on my own, even in life in general. Mainly because I have no one else to pace myself against so I often don't realize it until it's too late. Well today it's too late and I'm fairly exhausted so I'm taking a day to kind of sit, do some reading, and keep the mileage low.
But back to making uneventful eventful. The last 2 days were intended to be driving days when I was setting out the course of this trip. I figured they would probably be boring and uneventful. I managed to make it a little interesting though.
If there is any 1 negative quality about myself that I would pay $$$ to get rid of, its my forgetfulness. It's a strange forgetfulness though - I remember details from conversations with people almost to the point where some people might find it weird. But I can hardly leave the house without forgetting something I was supposed to bring, often forget where I put things or where I parked my car, and sometimes cannot remember why I started doing something. All this to say, what happened on Wednesday definitely fell into my forgetfulness wheelhouse. I was on the other side of Knoxville when I realized I left the care package my parents had made for me just sitting in my garage (sorry Mom and Dad! I really was looking forward to those snacks. Once you read this next part, you'll realize it was in no way personal, haha). But it was not until about 45 miles south of Chicago at 11:30 PM that I realized I had left one bag full of clothes just sitting in my room at home. All my extra t-shirts, my toiletries bag, and a few pairs of shorts >500 miles away. I guess in my rush to get out the door, that bag did not rush with me.
The old familiar reaction of beating myself up began to stir, but it did not get very far. What good was that going to do? What good does it ever do? Getting mad does not change the fact that my bag full of clothes is not recoverable at this point. Instead I shook my head, laughed, briefly said "Andrew, you're an idiot", and then forgave myself.
Then I began devising my backup plan. Turns out I'm going to survive folks! I just found out they have these things called stores where I can find most of the things I left. It's amazing how we can convince ourselves of all the things we "need". I "needed" 5 extra t-shirts and a dri-fit shirt and a cool tank-top? Really? Because I'm pretty sure I only need a few pairs of clothes, a car, and enough money to pay for food and gas and a camping spot. Everything else is just comfort.
I can even correlate this to life. We do that (maybe just me and I'm making generalizations for everyone else) all the time. And for those of us that walk by faith, that's so faithless. I do this all the time, "God I really need XYZ, please provide". "God it's about time you XYZ for me, I think I'm really needing it right now". Well, I'm still alive so I guess I never really needed any of those things. When I think of this, I think back to Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus promises us "if the birds of the air never miss a meal, and flowers are dressed in splendor the way they are, I've got you, who I love, taken care of. Trust me" (that's just me paraphrasing). Obviously the problems of life - love, dreams, family issues, health, etc. - for most are more complicated than food and dress, but I still think the same principle applies. "I love you. I've got you taken care of. Just TRUST me".
Beyond that, what else has happened the last 2 days? I got pulled over by a Minnesota state trooper. I deserved it. Luckily, he was nice and reminded me that the speed limit is clearly posted and often on I-90 (he was right, it is) and let me go with a warning. I didn't speed for the rest of...Minnesota. Also driving through Minnesota, I passed under a bridge in the middle of nowhere where some locals had gathered to wave American flags at the cars passing along the interstate below. For some reason this was really uplifting to me. The fact that these people would spend their free time just to go and wave the flag to support America somehow made me proud of our nation. For all our problems as a country, we are still the greatest nation on earth! No combination of freedom, opportunities, mobility, infrastructure, etc. can be found at this scale anywhere else. We are lucky folks, just remember that this Independence Day weekend.
Ok, now for the lighter stuff. Trivial things I've learned in the past 2 days...My car gets a true 31 miles to the gallon on the highway. My gas light goes off with about 1.75 gallons left. 95% of towns in Wisconsin have either a W or a K in their name (seriously, look at a map sometime, its crazy). Minnesota must have very strict billboard laws. I don't think I saw one billboard in 5 hours of driving through. South Dakota has no such laws. The billboard to human ratio in this state has to be at least 1.5:1. Also, South Dakota has the most gimmick attractions of anywhere I've ever been. If you like cheesy Americana, head to this state.
On a day-to-day note, please pray for a limber back for me. I've somehow managed to screw up my lower back, probably by pushing myself too hard the last few days trying to get ready to leave town and not stretching enough. As of this morning, I can't extend my left leg past my hip without excruciating pain. This leaves me with a walking motion where I have to swing my hip, and I kind of look like a penguin. But seriously, I've been dreaming of hiking Glacier National Park for like a year now and that is only 3 days away, so I hope to be back to at least 90% by then.
For those of you who just signed up for the pictures, there should be more in the near future as I get into some of the more scenic parts of the trip. But for now, here is South Dakota's hills in the western part of the state.
And although they turned my back at the entrance to Mt. Rushmore, I still got a side profile of George. Attempt 1 failed, but I may try again today.
The old familiar reaction of beating myself up began to stir, but it did not get very far. What good was that going to do? What good does it ever do? Getting mad does not change the fact that my bag full of clothes is not recoverable at this point. Instead I shook my head, laughed, briefly said "Andrew, you're an idiot", and then forgave myself.
Then I began devising my backup plan. Turns out I'm going to survive folks! I just found out they have these things called stores where I can find most of the things I left. It's amazing how we can convince ourselves of all the things we "need". I "needed" 5 extra t-shirts and a dri-fit shirt and a cool tank-top? Really? Because I'm pretty sure I only need a few pairs of clothes, a car, and enough money to pay for food and gas and a camping spot. Everything else is just comfort.
I can even correlate this to life. We do that (maybe just me and I'm making generalizations for everyone else) all the time. And for those of us that walk by faith, that's so faithless. I do this all the time, "God I really need XYZ, please provide". "God it's about time you XYZ for me, I think I'm really needing it right now". Well, I'm still alive so I guess I never really needed any of those things. When I think of this, I think back to Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus promises us "if the birds of the air never miss a meal, and flowers are dressed in splendor the way they are, I've got you, who I love, taken care of. Trust me" (that's just me paraphrasing). Obviously the problems of life - love, dreams, family issues, health, etc. - for most are more complicated than food and dress, but I still think the same principle applies. "I love you. I've got you taken care of. Just TRUST me".
Beyond that, what else has happened the last 2 days? I got pulled over by a Minnesota state trooper. I deserved it. Luckily, he was nice and reminded me that the speed limit is clearly posted and often on I-90 (he was right, it is) and let me go with a warning. I didn't speed for the rest of...Minnesota. Also driving through Minnesota, I passed under a bridge in the middle of nowhere where some locals had gathered to wave American flags at the cars passing along the interstate below. For some reason this was really uplifting to me. The fact that these people would spend their free time just to go and wave the flag to support America somehow made me proud of our nation. For all our problems as a country, we are still the greatest nation on earth! No combination of freedom, opportunities, mobility, infrastructure, etc. can be found at this scale anywhere else. We are lucky folks, just remember that this Independence Day weekend.
Ok, now for the lighter stuff. Trivial things I've learned in the past 2 days...My car gets a true 31 miles to the gallon on the highway. My gas light goes off with about 1.75 gallons left. 95% of towns in Wisconsin have either a W or a K in their name (seriously, look at a map sometime, its crazy). Minnesota must have very strict billboard laws. I don't think I saw one billboard in 5 hours of driving through. South Dakota has no such laws. The billboard to human ratio in this state has to be at least 1.5:1. Also, South Dakota has the most gimmick attractions of anywhere I've ever been. If you like cheesy Americana, head to this state.
On a day-to-day note, please pray for a limber back for me. I've somehow managed to screw up my lower back, probably by pushing myself too hard the last few days trying to get ready to leave town and not stretching enough. As of this morning, I can't extend my left leg past my hip without excruciating pain. This leaves me with a walking motion where I have to swing my hip, and I kind of look like a penguin. But seriously, I've been dreaming of hiking Glacier National Park for like a year now and that is only 3 days away, so I hope to be back to at least 90% by then.
For those of you who just signed up for the pictures, there should be more in the near future as I get into some of the more scenic parts of the trip. But for now, here is South Dakota's hills in the western part of the state.
And although they turned my back at the entrance to Mt. Rushmore, I still got a side profile of George. Attempt 1 failed, but I may try again today.
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