Amanda: On the Road

I started the day somewhere east of Cleveland. Cleveland, City of Dreams. I have heard that Randy Newman song plenty of times. I expect gaseous flames to erupt spontaneously from greenish geysers, out of the lake at Cleveland. The azure glow of Lake Erie, chinning calmly on this beautiful summer morning was real surprise. Cleveland look gorgeous and everyone looked proud to be from there. I had a protracted tour of downtown, trying to find a coffee hole. I found a good and went on my way, never to sing along with the Randy Newman songs, about Cleveland, again.

On the south of side of Chicago, a broad wave of dramatic thunderstorms rolled through. I rolled right through them. Lightning flashed everywhere. It let up just in time for me to reach the great river.

Odd how interstate highways can undermine great landmarks. I could see the Mississippi coming on my GPS. I took a detour south to Andalusia. People had houses along the Mississippi, built as though they had no idea it flooded there not infrequently. The river was soft and dark and wide. I slipped in my feet, to feel it a little more. It calmly dismissed me for the Gulf of Mexico. I backtracked north to the Interstate and noted the puny sign that announced the Mississippi, as though it was any podunk river, instead of the giant it is. I pressed on, driving hard today to make it to Des Moines and their Whole Foods Market. I will have to cross the dreaded Nebraska tomorrow, and make a run for the great divide. Altitude is my goal. High altitude.