July 5
After gathering my belongings I left the hotel around 11 dreading the site of my car and the many hours ahead I spent a few hours exploring St. Cloud. I could not yet return to the boring landscapes of the state before I had found some form of entertainment. After driving around for a bit I saw it. A Giant (to me at least) Barns& Noble. I spent about an hour browsing the store before finding a copy of the complete Father Brown Mysteries by GK Chesterton. After checking out and dealing with an androgynous (due to size) figure with a short spiky pink cut I hopped back into my car and started driving to North Dakota.
North Dakota. A state neither of my parents had entered I was shocked at just how big it is. Driving for an hour or more across the great plains with nothing in sight. It invoked a feeling I have only had on the ocean the feeling of Isolation and desolation. You can see for miles and you see that there is nothing but grass and gravel in all directions. I had hit the point in my road trip where 20 minutes feels like 2 hours and 7 hours felt like nothing. In this time warp of gas and gravel my mind wandered till I nearly crashed and decided to get a hotel. The hotel I stayed at was interesting, it was in the middle of nowhere which further impressed the feeling of isolation on me. It was an old building, according to my dad who looked it up, the hotel was used as a recruitment center during WW2 and as a makeshift hospital during the influenza epidemic of 1912. There was a small hotel bar which I was excited about “Finally I can grab a drink and maybe meet some strangers for a conversation” I said to myself. Sadly I was the one and only drinker in that bar. I returned to my room buzzed and lonely.
Sorry if these are getting shorter and more boring but I have been traveling for 13 days as of this post and I fear I will go mad before I finish the journey. Please continue your prayers for my safety on this trip.