A journey begins

It was at some point just after the pterodactyl was flying next to me on that moonlit night, I realized that I had no idea what I was jumping into. At first, a sense of awe washed over me, followed by a bit of fear. It was huge! How had no one seen one of these gliding through the canyons of Eastern Utah? To the best of my recollection, I was near the junction of Hwy 84 and Hwy 80, just around the midnight hour. I had been driving pretty much nonstop for 14 hours and surviving off an exclusive diet of chocolate, Mike & Ike's, potato chips, and water. To my right, I was getting glimpses of the left wing, dipping in and out of the moonlight. It took me a couple views to understand that there was a monstrous creature swooping up and down next to me.  I couldn't believe my eyes.

I shouldn't have believed my eyes. It took about a minute to realize that I was hallucinating. While what I saw was dipping in and out of the moonlight, it wasn't a leathery wing, it was a wind turbine blade. I decided to take a nap shortly after. That was just the first night.

I'm pretty sure I only suffered from alternate realities twice on my drive east. The other wasn't so much an image of what wasn't there as it was the planning of an event later in the day that had no possibility to occur. Besides that, I think my mind kept its grasp on reality, but then again, only the crazy person doesn't question his sanity. How would I know if I saw things that weren't there? What is real? Was the state employee riding a mower next to the freeway while barefoot and wearing a tanktop and shorts real? Were the Amana (don't call them Amish) colonies, a historical site in Iowa, now featuring a waterpark and "Landmark Restaurant", real or just some perversion of the American free market?  What about the fact that I passed through Kingsville, Ontario [not my pic], advertising itself as Canada's southernmost town, yet the map says otherwise and even the town's website says it is "one of the most southern towns"? How is it that Canada's tomato capitol and rhubarb capitol are so close together? Coincidence or just good tourism planning? Can I say that I have seen the states I traveled through on my journey? I entered and exited Michigan under the cloak of night, so all I can attest to are the road signs and the starry sky.

I have seen a wildfire sparked by a thunderstorm or was it a thunderstorm generated by a wildfire?  My eyes have fallen upon daytime in the wee hours of the night.  I have witnessed incredibly aggressive mosquitoes, blood-sucking flies, and giant Nebraskan bugs at my campsite.  I have been nearly blown up by skateboarders, the bored youth of Michigan City, Indiana, who play with homemade explosives while skating and biking under the watchful eye of the neighborhood cooling tower.  I have stood on the banks of a Great Lake looking at our Northern neighbor from our home perspective and I have stood on the bank of another Great Lake looking at home from our Northern neighbor's perspective.  I have left those whom I care deeply for behind and I have made new acquaintances, forging a new temporary life where I discover a new town, a new state, new homes, and new faces every two months.

I'm on an extended photowalk.