No Goodbyes, Only See You Laters

Wasn’t easy seeing the Ozerkov men disappear in my side view mirrors. The older I grow the more I appreciate all that my parents have done for me. The older I grow the more I regret not being there to see my brother grow from a boy into a man. I am so proud of my brother for all of his accomplishments and mostly for not taking after the example that I was setting for him when I lived with my family. It is so easy for a brother to fallow in the footsteps of an older sibling. I was far from perfect and am so glad that he did not make the mistakes that I did when I was younger.

The weather was the most pleasant in this trip thus far. The sun would warm you just right and the cool breeze would cool you just enough to allow you to enjoy all that was zipping past me without stressing about the weather conditions. My full attention was on my surroundings. Went through SW Minnesota and she had a new addition to the horizon. The landscape was littered with electricity producing windmills. Like a connect the dots puzzle that wasn’t yet complete the mills would be connected by invisible underground cables that eventually lead to larger electrical stations that would produce all the wires above ground and go the next batch of mills.

The ground was comprised of mostly grasslands and Cindy’s gargle would occasionally spook a grouse or pheasant that happened to be nestled a bit too close to the side of the road. It would take off in a flutter and fly just enough to get away from the threat it assumed from the noise landing in recently sprouted corn or soy fields. The ride was perfect, too good to be true. I should have not thought that. All of the sudden the music cut out in my ear buds. For about a minute I though at first it was the reception on my phone, but I had a gut feeling it was something worse. I let go of the gas and looked into my tank bag. The clear cover made it possible to see everything that was in it and everything that was not. My phone was among the not. My heart sank and I quickly began to look for a place to turn around to go look for it. Turned around and started to think of what I will need to do at the next city in order to get a new phone. I clearly did not believe I was going to find it or that it much less survived the 70 mph tumble. I backtracked about 3 miles and took the side of the road. My eyes raced across the surface of the road and the side of it. Every piece of torn up truck tread fooled me into excitement as I though I had surely found it. Nothing… made it to where I initially turned around. “Again”, I thought to myself and went for a second lap. This time before starting on the road where it potentially lay smashed, I stopped Cindy and cut the engine. I bowed my head and said a quick prayer. Started back up again, same pieces of tread teased me. About ¾ of the way through I saw it! A once in a million spotting! I saw it not in plain view on the asphalt but in the grass about 6’ in from the edge of the road. I parked Cindy and ran back the distance that it took me to stop. Sure enough the phone lay facing me. My case was completely obliterated and torn off the phone. I could not find any evidence of its existence anywhere. The phone though, the phone was unscathed. Pressed the button and screen lit up like nothing ever happened. Got back on Cindy, put my headphones in and turned up my Pandora Praise and Worship station.

South Dakota continued in the same flat manner and towards dusk I started to get to the hills. I imagined a time when buffalo dominated the environment. I recalled a conversation that I had with a family friend while in Minnesota. There had been no remaining pureblooded North American Buffalo remaining. They had all been slowly inbred with domesticated cattle and a species disappeared. Pity, but the at the time of settling the west Native Indians had posed a threat to the expansion of the colonial US. Get rid of the Buffalo and the Indians will succumb to a similar fate. The Midwest is covered in many historical markers of battles that were fought between those defending their homelands and those taking over them.

There was just enough light to see the start of the Badlands to my left. The hilly landscape made it possible for water to do what it does best. The same grasslands would blanket the hills but the water would eventually overcome the grasses that tried to keep the topsoil together and wash out the edges of the slopes exposing the sandy surface below. The exposed subsurface was an injury whose scab kept getting picked at and could never heal. I was in a race and could not turn off to the see the badlands and kept going. Stopped at a gas station and to grab some food. While I was waiting for my order to arrive the TV was blaring thunderstorm alerts. I took my time eating. As I came out the sky was lit with lightening. I could not wait and started up Cindy, and hit the road quickly before my goggles had a chance to fog up. Made it to Wyoming and rode for as far as I could go. It was 2 am and the only thing around was a rest area. It had started to rain again and the wind was strong and cold. I did not want to set up the tent so went under a picnic shelter, unrolled my sleeping back on the concrete picnic tabletop and fell asleep. I would not wait to see the Rockies tomorrow.