Intro

Todd was still working his way towards Denver. His plan was to make it to my dad's house in Kansas City, Missouri by 8:00 PM.

Details of the Day

Because of Todd's late start the day before, he was running about three and a half hours behind schedule. I called him around six in the morning and to my surprise he had already been on the road for two hours. Todd is not a morning person, staying in bed sometimes until nine o'clock on weekend mornings. On the other hand I am bright eyed and bushy tailed, up and moving by no later than six o'clock on my days off. On this day Todd was in high spirits despite the rain and fog. He was excited to officially get the vacation started the next day in Colorado.

Later in the morning I decided to go for an eight mile run through the meadows to keep my mind off the vacation. I was going crazy wanting it to start immediately. The meadows is an agricultural area in Rocky Hill along the Connecticut River near the Rocky Hill Ferry. There is a network of lightly traveled dirt roads that are perfect for running. It is very flat and given it's proximity to the river has a tendency to flood. A few years back there was a big flood in the fall and Todd took his kayak down to paddle through the corn and bean fields. He also went pumpkin hunting, snagging a few that had detached from their vines and were floating down the river.

My run that morning started off well; I was able to fall into an easy rhythm soon after leaving the house as I made my way towards the meadows. I passed the gate on Goff Brook Lane and started down the dirt road when suddenly I felt fatigued. My legs were strong, but for some reason I felt exhausted and didn't know if I could go any further. This scene had happened multiple times in the weeks before. I would reason with myself that I was tired, over-stressed, or just not in the mood for a run. But there was no more time for denial; I was going on an active vacation the next day and I needed to find out what was wrong. The research would have to wait until I got home so I decided to make the most out of the situation and run/walk home.

When I got home I scoured the internet looking for the cause of my symptoms. I suspected it had something to do with my recent change in diet. I found that people on gluten free diets are often lacking certain vitamins and minerals. After comparing the deficiency list with the back of my multi-vitamin bottle I narrowed it down to magnesium or a combination of the B vitamins. It sounded like magnesium was the most common so I went to the local drug store and purchased some magnesium pills. I hoped they would keep me going during our hikes.

I felt better after my research and spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and walking the dogs. I snuck in a short bike ride around the neighborhood and talked with Todd off and on throughout the day.

Clark Bridge

There is a bridge over the Mississippi river between Alton, Illinois and West Alton, Missouri called the Clark bridge that is named after the explorer William Clark. It was built in 1994 and replaces the original Clark bridge which spanned the Mississippi since 1928. The building of the bridge was chronicled in a Nova documentary released in 1997.

A few years after watching the Nova program, Todd and Asta visited the bridge after picking up the Missouri high point. Even though Todd had an obligation to get to my dad's house, it was important for him to stop at the bridge again this year. After taking in the beauty of the area, Todd took out the new video camera and captured video of the day along the river. The man seen repeatedly in the video was fishing from the bank and was going back and forth to his vehicle.

Check out the video of the Clark Bridge

After leaving the bridge, Todd only had about four hours of driving left to reach Kansas City and had made up enough time that he was back on schedule. He rolled into Liberty ten minutes late, at 8:10 PM. He would have been on time if he would have grabbed the directions from the trunk during his last stop for gas. He had been on the road for a grand total of seventeen hours and drove eleven hundred miles. As dad drove Todd to a local pub for a bite to eat, Todd gave me a quick call to let me know he made it. Unbeknownst to them, the pub had already closed for the evening. Luckily dad was a regular and they were able to order as enjoy a meal together after hours.

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Reflections

Once again, there is not much to reflect upon since the vacation hadn't started yet. It was another long day of driving for Todd. Both of us were anxious to get the vacation started. I tried to find a solution for my fatigue.