Day 1:
Got off around 10am—later than planned, but I had to go to the post office and ship three large boxes to Canada that didn’t fit in my car.Stopped near Berrien for about ½ hour. My friend Sedric met us at the interstate to say goodbye. That was a nice sendoff out of Michigan.
Minnesota has a 65 mph speed limit and is crawling with policemen. Passed maybe 20 along the road—almost all with a victim. Thankfully none were me…
Had a good travel day. Shanuk traveled well. I am pleased. She even loved her little “cave” in the backseat. She loves hiding in small places.She did freak out in the hotel, though, with all the new sounds of the TV, the toilet flushing, the blow dryer, etc. At one point, she tried to crawl into the night stand that sat in between the two beds. She’s way too big so only her head and shoulders fit in, but she would have stayed there a long time except that we finally coaxed her out. I wish I had my camera right then to catch the moment. I laughed so hard!Day 2
Woke up with a super sore, swollen, red finger. (I cut it very deeply a week ago and then it developed a rash that spread down to my knuckle. My medical friend Albert said to just keep an eye on it and if it started to get painful and turn red, then I should probably have it checked. A bad infection could lead to a bone infection… not cool! So anyway, today it looked awful… Decided I should get it checked, but where?? Stopped at a medical clinic in Wisconsin and spoke to a nurse. She said to soak it in Epson salts. So thanks to Wendy’s and Starbucks for supplying the hot water, we had a little infirmary on the road. At night we wrapped it in charcoal.
Went through another new state—North Dakota. I had been to every state west of the Mississippi except this one, so that was fun. (My total number of states I have now seen is 47.) It is so flat though! But there are a lot of wetlands. It is neat. Speed limit—75 mph. Temperature slightly chilly at 65 degrees. The people here drive funny. I was ready to go straight through a green light and four cars turned left right in front of me as if they had the right of way. Good thing I stopped or there would have been a major accident. Later, I read the sign from the direction they came “Left turn yield on green.” I guess they don’t know how to read…Got to the hotel and tried to start my computer. Dead… It freezes whenever I log on. Stressing out since none of my recent lesson plans have been backed up. I have a lot of files I need for school on Monday. I’ll figure it out in the morning.
Day 3
My finger looks and feels so much better. Another soak in Epson salts and another charcoal poultice. I’m turning black…
My computer was hijacked today!! Someone took it over—three times! I realized I needed to get some urgent care on my computer since there are no IT guys at the school and I really need my files for class on Monday. Besides since I can’t even log into my computer, I may be without a computer for months till I get it fixed and I just can’t afford that. So I called Microsoft tech support and spent four hours on the phone with them. The first guy helped me log back in (learned more about my systems configuration than I ever knew before!) and clean out all the spyware, adware, viruses, etc. He was so helpful. But after I finished with him, one particular virus that was logged in a windows system file was still there. So I was patched to another PC security guy who spent another two hours cleaning my computer some more. Craziness! I don’t know how I got all that junk, but I thank God that it is all off and my computer runs so well now! I am virus free!Got off from the hotel around 2pm (had to stay at the hotel so the IT guys could access my computer through the internet, but it set us off so late in the day. Had an 11 hour drive in front of us, but dad set our reservations closer in so we didn’t have to drive so far…)
Yesterday I was telling mom how barren North Dakota and then she told me she had justs seen a commentary about a man who quit his teaching job to come back to his podunk little town in North Dakota and try to revive the dying town. He started making metal sculptures—some of the largest in the world. She couldn’t remember where in North Dakota they were. As we were traveling today, we passed on of the huge sculptures along the road and mom yelled out, “That’s one of those sculptures I was telling you about.” This man’s town was 15 miles off the interstate, so we took a side diversion to see them. They were so cool.
Got calls along the way from Adriana, Justin, and Joe. Oh, yes, and from Dr. Anonymous who called at 1:30 am his time while he was on call at the hospital. (He was paged while I was talking to him to check someone’s EKG so he had to run to see if his patient was ok. He called me back later to say the guy was fine…good thing or I would have felt terrible if someone had a heart attack while the doctor was talking to me in his on-call room!) Anyway, I am so thankful for all my friends who have called me along the way to say goodbye, see how I am doing as I travel, and wish me a great rest of the journey.
Day 4
Got off this morning in decent time. The first morning we have not had any major incidents. Good thing considering we have a thirteen hour day in front of us (because of all the craziness yesterday…) That should put us within two hours of the Canadian border. We are trying to get to the border with plenty of time tomorrow just in case I have trouble with my papers.
Traveled through the rest of North Dakota, then Montana, Idaho, and Washington. I think Shanuk really like the scenery today. She usually falls asleep in the back of the car, but today she was awake most of the day and just sat in the back seat looking around. I would have to agree it was very pretty.
Got to the hotel around 11:30. Exhausted.
To the border tomorrow…
7 comments:
Hi Autumn. You are so far away already but not so far since we are sisters in Christ. Thanks for the b-day greetings. I wish you could have been there. Anyways, maybe we can catch up when you get settled in beautiful B.C. Happy Sabbath!
Are you laboring on Labor day? I hope you made it safe to B.C. All God's blessings to you my friend!
Autumn,
Poor little finger. Isn't the Northwest beautiful!?!
I'm glad we had the conversation about enjoying the journey... it has been a good reminder to me also.
Fountainview came up in a discussion yesterday at a Peruvian restaurant... I had new reason to defend it.
Melanie! I do feel very far away, but then again, not so, since like you said, sisters in Christ are never so far... Wish you could come visit me! It is so pretty here! I will post some pictures soon. And yes, I am laboring on Labor Day...no rest for the weary here! As soon as I get some outside connection to the world beyond via the telephone, I will give you a ring!
Michael, So you are Fountainview's defense attorney, eh? Sorry the pays not so great! But if you come to visit, we will feed you lots of wonderful plums, apples, apricots, and of course, carrots! Maybe that will help defer the costs! And a Peruvian restaurant? What do they eat? (Ya, don't tell me Peruvian food since that won't be so helpful!)
Even though I talked to you along the way, it was really fun to read your travel log. I'm glad you made it safely there. You seem so far away but you are as near as my heart.
Autumn.....Autumn.... can you hear me...me...meeee....?????????? (wait for the echo through the mountains). You are definitely far away but it's true, we can be so glad that Jesus lives in our hearts so we can be closer. I am praying for you out there. You are where God wants you and that is some great assurance to any loneliness or fear that may try to get you. Let Jesus be your everything. Love and miss you!
Melanie... can you hear me? I have to yell really loud to be hear out of these mountains! Thanks for all the little notes you post on my blog! I love reading them all. Thanks for your prayers! At this point, I know I am where God wants me. That gives me assurance he is with me! Miss you tons!
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