Marathon

Sometimes, you just get in a groove. I just drove 1,064 miles in 17 hours breaking only to get gas and pee.

I went through parts of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.

I said my farewells to the nice Virginian family who gave me room and board while I explored D.C. As is their custom, I ran over a possum and returned with the carcass as a thank you.

Originally, I thought I was going to end up in Chicago tonight. Instead, I’m in Columbia, Missouri. I have no idea where that is.

Early in my journey, I was swallowed up by a maze of construction and detours in south-west Pennsylvania. As a result, I ended up taking any road that said “west” until I found myself traveling far south of the Great Lakes.

I continued in an 80 m.p.h. caffeine-induced haze.

There are certain snippets I remember. Like West Virginia smelling like burning. And all five women I personally interacted with there having serious facial hair.

Sure, it looks nice in the picture above, but Ohio irritated my eyes more than the smoggiest day in L.A.

Oh, yeah. Going through Indianapolis, there was tons of rain and a very impressive lightning display.

Yes! I remember because the sky cleared up once I was out of Indiana and I could put the top down again. I drove through the warm evening as mist rose from the ground. Sometimes a truck would hit a patch just right and send it all swirling like twin tornadoes.

The stars came out. It was beautiful. I found myself driving through St. Louis.

I tried to get a picture of the Arch, but the flash went off and it didn’t come out very well.

And still I travelled through the night. I wasn’t tired yet. I decided to see if I could go 1,000 miles. And I did. Right about then is when fatigue really started to set in.

Now, I’m in a hotel room in Missouri, and I think I…

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