Personal Best

Wednesday, August 26, 2015     trip odometer 6, 275 miles         Moorhead, MN

            Well, I clocked a pitiful 340 miles today, mostly because of getting lost twice. But I accomplished something that has meaning only to me: I found 5 geocaches in 3 states, earning three ‘State Souvenirs’ in one day, a personal best. This required a lot of planning, coordinating routes on the map with pre-downloaded caches, and then actually going there (75 miles out of my way) to the Iowa/Nebraska border, getting caches in both states, then motoring north all the way to North Dakota for those caches. At least the latter was on my route to the Twine Ball in Darwin, MN. I feel outrageously elated about this accomplishment, like I should be pumping my arms in the air while someone pours Gatorade over me. However, I expect that the quiet satisfaction of looking at the US Map on Geocaching.com is the only celebration I’ll have. Frankly, it’s all I want. (But can't I even watch the replay in slo-mo?)

            Both the Dakotas are nice places. North Dakota seems more dedicated to agriculture, with literally miles of crop fields. South Dakota has its playful side. Motels welcome pheasant hunters, for instance, and motorcyclists are everywhere. Weirdest sight of all, I saw an inboard v-hull motorboat on a lake shaped like a donut (big island in the middle) that I could have fly-casted from shore to island from almost any point on shore. What were they doing, I have to wonder? Going around and around?

            I have to admit I’m longing to get home. The two cats in the family-owned motel where I stayed last night were aloof, but reminded me so much of my own kitties. I hope the next few days I make better time than today. Crossing time zones west-to-east has my time sense all messed up. I was getting up at 6:30 – 7:00 in Seattle and now I’m crawling out of bed at 9:00 and wondering why the day seems so short. Admittedly this is more like my usual rise time, but right now it’s a bit inconvenient.