Play Ball
After packing up the Wagon once more, we retrieved our “grab and go” breakfast and checked out of the hotel. We wanted to leave Kansas City no later than 11:15 AM, so with the extra time we had during the morning we went to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. We found that it takes a bit longer than an hour to get through the museum, so we arrived before they opened at 10:00 AM (the Milnor crew being on time, especially early, is darn near a miracle). We enjoyed learning about the history of America’s pastime, especially the period when the game was segregated based on skin color. It was fitting to have a baseball-centered morning since the St. Louis Cardinals just recently announced their COVID-adjusted 60-game schedule for the 2020 season.
We got through in just the right amount of time. By 11:15 we were on the road, just four hours from home. After driving through a rainstorm just outside St. Louis, the scenery became increasingly familiar, and we pulled into the driveway around 3:30 PM. We unpacked and Mom prepared a delicious lunch for us. After, Evan headed back home, Dad tended to household matters, and I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking. By 9:30 PM, the Wagon was completely unloaded and everything was sorted based on its final storage destination.
It is impossible to describe the past month in words. It has been an incredibly memorable trip that I have been able to share with a few of my family and closest friends. After coming back home from Philmont Scout Ranch in 2015, I wanted and tried to fully convey the experiences I had with my crew to my parents and friends. Yet, there is no substitute for the journey. Much like in an improvisation act, laughs, conversations, emotions, and silences in our trusty Wagon are impossible to carry outside the moment in which they existed. Upon reflection, I find these in-between, rough-edged moments to be my favorite moments of the trip, giving definition to the trip beyond what the picture perfect moments can relay.
Over the past 11 months I have been blessed to have safely crossed the United States by car twice with family and friends. Having logged 8,000 miles on this trip and over 10,500 miles in 11 months, I have seen a portion of the diversity of landscape within the United States. While my travels have been a mere sampling, I feel fortunate to have a greater understanding of the bountiful land of our nation. From the urban, educational, and governmental centerpieces of the coasts to the industrial small towns in the Midwest to the agricultural fields and ranch lands throughout the States to the mountains, stratovolcanoes, hot springs, and geysers of the West to the deserts of the south and southwest contrasted with the rain forests of the Northwest, and on and on. Within our own country there is so much natural beauty and history to enjoy, for which we can and should be grateful everyday. Thanks for reading.
