Last night was a scary night for me. At the Milton Lake State Park there were only 3 parties here all night. One guy camping in his trailer in the next camping area, 3 guys camping in a further camping area, and then there was me. The other groups had trailers, while all I had was a tent.
It was difficult for me to go to sleep because I was so afraid. For the the first time on this trip, I had real fear. I thought crazy thoughts like the park ranger may be a serial killer who may come back at night (he told me he got off work at 11:00 pm) and murder me. I came to the park late, and had to use my flashlight to set up the tent. That was crazy!
When you're thinking about death, you naturally think about people who care for you, and the people you care for. This is a time to really understand who you really love. (I won't mention any names since I'm not willing to share that part of me to the public.)
I kept waking up in the middle of the night fearing for my life. This is one of those times where if I scream, I wouldn't be heard. When I heard a dog barking at 2:00 am, I thought there may be someone out in the woods; so I rush my belongings into the truck, left the tent there, and took off. I originally drove around the park, and then around the lake.
(There are many parks around this huge lake.) I drove slowly, and it took me approximately 1.5 hours to circle the lake. While driving I thought about God and men. It would truly be a tragedy if a good person who didn't worship God goes to hell, while a bad person who's sins are forgiven by God goes to heaven...a travesty indeed.
I ended up sleeping in front of the Lake information center until 5:00 am before heading back to the campsite. When I got back my tent was flipped over. The hooks on two of the stakes broke.
At this point I was still nervous but went ahead and packed up everything in the Rodeo and went to bed in the driver's seat until sunrise. Then I hopped in the back and slept for a few more hours.
I woke up, went jogging and took a shower. Then I started writing in my journal and transferred the pics from the digital camera. The park is desolate since this is a workday. I hooked up my portable to one of enhanced camping sites to recharge and type.
Day 5 is about to begin when I hit the road. There's 52,523 miles on the odometer, and I should be heading out of the park by 2:00 pm. My first destination today is the Kansas State University campus, which isn't too far from here.
Spent a few hours at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It's a nice little university. Walked into the bookstore at Union building, and purchased some postcards to send to friends. Then I ate at the Italian fast food restaurant inside. Had a slice of mushroom pizza and a coke. I haven't had pizza in a year and a half, and now had pizza twice in one week. Then I walked around campus, which had some old buildings. The campus didn't seem to be very busy for some reason. Maybe it was late in the afternoon around 3:00 pm. I spent $0.75 for 1.5 hours of parking. (I have to admit that the women there weren't as plentiful as at Texas A&M, but the campus seemed friendly enough.) I saw my first cowboy (student) for the first time in 5 days. They just don't have too many cowboys up this way.
Then I headed east and westward. Stopped at a Wal-mart in Hiawatha, Kansas to buy a some water and some new aluminum stakes for my tent. I made out some post cards, but it took me about an hour to find the post office. Originally, I thought Hiawatha was small dinky town, but it turned out to be much larger. I finally found the post office after stopping at a Residence Inn near the highway, and a woman gave me directions. I then went to Subway to buy a sandwich to go. As I headed back towards the highway, I thought about staying at the Residence Inn- but not quite the way other people stay at hotels and motels.
I figured if kids were roaming the streets without parents, then Hiawatha must be a very safe community, and that I could rest without having someone sneak up to my truck late in the evening.
But I headed on out towards Missouri. I hit a racoon on the road and had to drive back to see it. As I drove back, I could see it's wide opened eyes gleaming my headlight. I hope that I can be forgiven for this act.
My original plan was to spend the night at a rest stop on Interstate 29, but when I arrived in Missouri after crossing the Missouri River, I found that St. Joseph was a bigger city than I thought. I wanted to park my car on a residental street and just go to bed for the night. The houses I saw did not have garages, and people parked their cars in front of their home along the street. I saw a house with a "For Rent" sign on it, and I was going to park there, but it was so runned down, I was afraid I might be in the wrong neighborhood, but I think I was wrong. There was a nice church nearby, and I saw people walking up and down the streets a little earlier.
St. Joseph probably makes it's money of the Missouri River. There was an industrial section along the river.Went back to my original plan and headed towards the rest stop just south of Mound City. When I arrived, there was only one truck there, a few semis, and a rental truck with the hood up. A guy was speaking on the phone. I was weary about staying there, so I decided to head to Mound City about 4 miles north. As I entered Mound City, I saw a billboard for Audrey's Motel. I shacked at the motel, and what did it cost me? Nada. Zip. Zero. I pulled into the small motel pakring lot and put up the windshield visor, then hopped into the backseat. I stayed awake for about 30 minutes waiting for the cops to arrive to ticket me for loitering or something, but no one came. Probably no one saw me enter the parking lot at 11:30 pm at night.
And so I headed off to bed until day six.
