Day 24 and 25 - In the Wind

Sioux Falls, SD to Milwaukee, WI to Lexington, KY

As stated at the conclusion of my last post, the last two days have lived up to expectations - those being Conor and I east-bound, blasting down highways. Many of the focal points of this trip are behind us and now we're headed home. But there were still a few things to consider before making it back to Charleston. Chief among them was the Chicago Field Museum - home to Sue, the World's most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever discovered, and on full display at the Field Museum.

Day 24 was mostly driving. 7 hours on the road from Sioux Falls, SD to Milwaukee, WI. As we were packing up from Rapid City and I was looking at our route into Chicago, I noted we'd drive clear across Minnesota up into Wisconsin, and then back down toward Chicago. My senior leader for my work, Jim Haas, happens to live just outside Milwaukee which is also only an hour from Chicago. I sent him a text to see about grabbing dinner or a drink as Conor and I were passing through the area and he responded immediately. Only rather than meet Conor and I out at a restaurant, he invited us to his house for a home cooked meal and some real relaxation.

When we arrived Jim was in the driveway shooting hoops with his two sons, Ben and Will, and they were joined by another buddy who was over spending the night as well. A welcome change to the road, I thought. And while Conor is not much of a hoopster, he does love to fish. When that little nugget was dropped, both Ben and Conor realized they had something in common and before I knew it, Jim's wife, Holly, had the boys loaded up in their car and was driving them down to a local lake where they could throw a couple of lines. This would be the first time Conor has been away from me for any significant period of time (a few hours) in a month. As luck would have it, I brought along a six pack of some local brew, and Jim was drinking rum and coke. We sat out on the porch on a beautiful 72 degree evening in Wisconsin and talked anything from music to sports to details around the trip and of course, a little shop talk, too. For the first time in weeks I was sitting down and having an adult conversation and sipping an adult beverage. An excellent time, indeed.

At the end of the night, Conor and I were so grateful to the Haas family for opening their doors and bringing us in. It felt good to get that reprieve. Energizing even. An opportunity to recharge a bit, which would be helpful as we're about to engage in this final push toward home which would see Conor and I putting a lot of miles behind us.    

Milwaukee, WI to Lexington, KY

With Milwaukee being only an hour from Chicago, Conor and I woke up excited! A short drive would serve as a reprieve of its own, especially with the understanding we're going to the one thing Conor has been hounding me about seeing since being old enough to learn about dinosaur fossils and Paleontology. "Sue".

I mention above that Sue is the most complete fossil ever found for a dinosaur her size. This creature was absolutely enormous, a true spectacle. Of course, we've all seen dinosaur exhibits and movies featuring T-Rex, how fearsome and violent these animals were thought to be, etc., but there is something menacing about standing in front of Sue. Especially when considering that she evolved over millions of years, and then was made extinct for millions of years. I've mentioned throughout this blog that seeing the country as we have these last weeks has given us (or at least me) some new perspectives. A kind of realization of how small and insignificant we really are in the larger scheme, as much as we'd like to tell ourselves otherwise. Standing in front of Sue, you can't help but feel small. In another time, if she didn't eat you, she would dismiss you and regard another human as no threat at all. A bit deep, I realize, but isn't that the point of all this?

After several hours seeing not only Sue, but also several other fossils on display including Maximo - an absolutely enormous Argentinosaurus, a Triceratops, a Stegosaurus, an aviating dinosaur called Quetzalcoatlus, a tour through the "Evolving Planet" which takes us back billions of years to the formation of all life on Earth, and then a really cool exhibit called, "Jurassic Oceans - Monsters of the Deep", Conor and I were both hungry. For me, no trip to Chicago is complete without a Chicago style deep-dish pizza from Lou Malnati's. In my adult years, whenever I would visit Chicago to see my Dad we almost always had Lou Malnati's pizza, and I couldn't wait for Conor to try this complete departure from its more popular form. And it did not disappoint. Spectacular as always...

Fed, full, and satisfied it was now time to put Chicago to our rear view and make us some time. We managed to escape Chicago just before rush-hour, determined to drive until we couldn't. Five hours later, we ended up in Lexington, KY.

We're missing home. This entire journey has been truly amazing, but we miss our comforts. In fact, while sitting on his porch in Milwaukee Jim asked, "Has it all lived up to what you expected it to be?" and without a second thought I responded, "More." But this part of the Healing Road is over now. Assuredly we'll be departing for longer roads than even the ones we're on today, proverbially speaking anyway. But for today, "We're going back to Charleston, where there is still a little grace and civility left in the World." --Rhett Butler 

When I was a child my Mother would always recite her favorite poem to me at my bedtime, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", by Robert Frost. As I grow weary of the road I continue to recite the last lines of that poem.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."

 Leaving Lexington, KY momentarily, we should be home by the end of this day and I truly cannot wait.

Charleston is calling, and the Healing Road goes on.