I am alive. I have a few backlogged posts that I haven't gotten around to posting but will make a valiant attempt to do so shortly.
That said, my life has changed dramatically in the last couple of months--mostly for the good. Mostly everything has been such an incredible blessing but there is always opposition it seems.
In the next couple of weeks I'd like to do a real Update Post. But for now I'm just going to repost a section of my 50 States Travel Log. There have been a few sections I've gone back and read since my travels but in large part I haven't read anything that I posted during that time, only when I was writing them.
Enjoy Day 11: Dakota 5-0
Day 11: Dakota 5-0
Other than the fact that I realized that I posted Day 10 accidentally in my Writs and Rants blog instead of my travel log today has been a pretty good day. Long but good. But I don't think many people can understand how much that bothers me that it's in the wrong blog! The way I can feel somewhat ok about it is that it was more of a rant than a travel update. I blame it completely on the fact that I am using my phone for this whole process. Just breathe.
Ok. here is my day.
I finally got pulled over. It was last night after I posted my day 10(in the wrong blog...) It was around midnight. I had stopped in a small city a half hour out of Sioux Falls. I was looking for a gas station, wasn't smoking weed, passed a gas station, wasn't smuggling blow, did a u-turn, was unfortunately listening to Pitbull on the radio, and then pulled into the gas station. That's when I saw the light. Lights actually, very colorful lights swirling around in my rear view mirror coming from two different patrol cars. Did you happen to notice which one of those things warranted getting pulled over? It wasn't, like I originally suspected, because I was listening to Pitbull.
Yep, it was because I made a U-turn.
Now, I'm always fighting an up hill battle with the po-po because for one, I have long hair, and two, I always have dark circles under my eyes, and three, I just naturally look high and sometimes act like I'm slightly stoned depending on what phase of the moon is in the sky. But I can't help this.
All of that on top of the fact that I'm certain they are trained to bewilder you with odd questions. I had one of them on either side of my car, flash lights drawn and blazing through my vehicle, both asking me questions at the same time.
Long story short, I had a very pleasant conversation with the very nice, not to mention attractive in a cop sort of way, lady 5-0 who let me sit in the front seat of her cruiser while her backup spent a half an hour searching my vehicle for narcotics.
We listened to Taylor Swift and talked about couch surfing. And I tell you that there are sweet little victories in life. Most of them we don't even realize are victories until they happen and I'm just saying that hearing an officers voice change from police mode to regular person mode is a very triumphant feeling. And it was all before they verified the star crunch and cosmic brownies that I was stowing away were grade Little Debbie.
That makes three times my vehicle has been search for narcotics. You know what that means? That means I am 3 and 0 baby!
After it was all over I was notified that I was quite the celebrity. The gas station clerk came out as soon as the cops left and told me that they were watching me on the security cameras and making bets as to whether I would get hauled off or not! Also the lady pointed across the parking lot to a herd of people walking out of the karaoke bar. She notified me that the bar closed a half hour ago but nobody wanted to leave cuz they were all drunk! Now that the cops were gone they could go home!
Oh the lives we live.
That was all before I went to sleep. I found my way to a rest stop and slept. Upon waking up I made way to Ashfall fossil beds in Nebraska.
The fossil beds were very interesting. The whole process is just fascinating and the science to it is remarkable. At roughly the same elevation throughout most of the North American continent we see about two feet of ash that is distinct from Mt. Saint Helen and the Yellowstone caldera eruptions. It's from the Idaho Bruneau-Jarbidge Super volcano that erupted around 12 million years ago.
The ash not only looks different under a microscope from the other two volcanoes' ash but it's chemical composition is consistent across the board anywhere you look at that specific elevation. Call me less than thorough but I can't for the life of me remember what that elevation was and I'm not going to hazard a guess because I'm tired and I'd probably say something ridiculous.
This 12 million is not to be confused with the 12 or so thousand years ago where the native horses and rhinoceroses in the Americas, and even camels went extinct. I had no idea that camels originated from the Americas, and eventually split into the South American version which is now the llama and the two African and Asian versions which are respectively the single humped dromedaries, and the double humped Bactrian camels.
I left the fossil beds very satisfied and with a new perspective on epoch timescales. My timescale of driving measured in hours is nearly imperceptible on the immense geological timescale but to my perspective it is still epoch as I am gearing up for the final stretch toward the Winterfeldt house there in Wisconsin. I'll be there in about three or so hours. It'll be about 3 in the morning. Mountain Dew Kickstarter do good by me or else. It's the only energy drink available at this rest stop.
Well, goodnight my dear readers. Until tomorrow.
Love.
To my lovers out there, Have faith and love every good moment.