Day 18 mid west

Day 18

Let me tell you, Minnesota is a nice state, Wisconsin is a little less nice, and then you hit Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and upstate New York and they allllll look like Hadley Mass. Between Saturday morning to Saturday evening we covered a little more then 600 miles and about 12 hours of on again off again driving from Sioux Falls SD to Chesterton Indiana. On Sunday I Google churches in Chesterton and we picked the only one I could find with a working web site. What a blessing this church was to us! The church must have held about 800 worshipers and the speaker was passionate about his message and very convicting! The four of us guys left that service refreshed and renewed and ready to hit the open road with a new attitude. And that new attitude lasted all up until about a half hour into the drive when careless camper driver almost drove a little car off the road into the cement median in front of us on 90 East and out of defense for that little car a finger almost made it's way out the shot gun window =) (Rest easy Mom's the conviction took over and the shotgun window remained closed and unobstructed with fingers)

Anyways it's about 6PM EST and we just received word that west of us in Ohio a tornado has struck and seven people are dead, talk about getting a jolt of urgency and putting some weight into that gas pedal! Just like two weeks ago when the draw of the west was luring us onward like a pulled bath tub drain, now it is the draw of our own beds, personal bathrooms, and loved ones that is pressing us like a hot iron onward and through these hard miles upon miles of pavement towards our homes! We may never look at home the same way again!

Two days ago back in Sioux Falls South Dakota, as Luke and Tom hit up the city mall, Jesse and I stayed back to sit under the stars and reminisce. We both agreed that after a week or two of being home all negative memories that we carried at the moment would be faded away, and only the highlights would still be fresh in our mind. Way back in Utah Mr Craig the biker gave a quote that I believe will ring true for all four of us! He told us that night in Nevada in Zion that 10, 20 years from now one of us would be sitting in our office at work pushing papers, and our mind would immediately flash back to an awesome memory from the trip, and we would just smile with happiness. I couldn't agree more! The stories we will for ever have, the memories that will forever hold fresh in our minds, the experience and the sights that we shared with three of our best friends will never be taken from us. The sights, the sounds, the pictures, the fights, the food, base camp, the disagreements, the friendships formed and the ones forever fortified will forever be ours to cherish! it was no bed of roses but we did it! Four best friends and one dream, to cross from one ocean to the other and then back again, no one said it was going to be easy, but us four men accomplished a deed that many hope to achieve in their lifetime but for one reason or another fail. Lord I will forever be thankful for the opportunity you have blessed me with on this trip! :)