Mile 1243: Getting the Hell outta Minnesota

January 12, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized 

 Yesterday was clearly going to be the longest (and suckiest) leg of the entire road trip.  With a million things to do (and a million things undone), I left a lot later than I wanted.

I drove past Burnsville and it all became very apparent that I’d be soon leaving everything behind for a a life on the road for the next few weeks.  Nobody but myself.

I thought for a brief minute about turning back and just forgetting the whole thing.  Why not just settle down, find an house, get a dog and make a quiet life of it?  It’d be so easy.

I found myself in Iowa at 3am in the morning, way tired beyond words and looking at nothing but a thin-slice of oncoming road in the darkness.  I knew I was going to end up in a ditch somewhere if I tried to push on to St. Louis.  I called it a night at Cedar Rapids, Iowa and slept in the back of my car curled up in my sleeping bag.

Woke up to a cold, frosty morning.  The only good thing about it would be that it’d be the last one I’d see for a good long while, and I couldn’t wait for that.

After a meal at Perkins and some morning sunshine, I was feeling a lot better.  The drive through Iowa was miserable and I was glad to leave it behind.

No snow!  Yay! Good riddance!

Somewhere in Missouri, I noticed the setting sun and formation of clouds.  I knew that there’d be a killer sunset forming up in the next hour.  I drove quickly to the next exit and started searching for a good place to grab some shots.

Used the 16mm for this shot.

Now the colors were really starting to kick up!

This one is the real winner.

And there’ll be more to come tomorrow.

Till then!

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