After Colorado and some time in Duluth working from my friend Jeremy’s dining room, it was time to begin the long drive home to Seattle. As much as a part of me wanted to stay in the midwest for the rest of the summer, it was time to get back to the West Coast. But not without a stop in Minneapolis to see my old home and old friends.
It had been years, more than I care to count and admit, since I visited Minneapolis and my people within it. This trip, was just a day, an overnight, a taster, but it reminded me that this city was once my home. It also is and was hurting in the wake of the George Floyd murder by police and the ensuing civil unrest. My long time friend Tracy helped me witness the spaces created to honor, memorialize, and to educate.
Tracy now works as a juvenile public defender, so she sees the system up front and personal and the children caught up within it. Her work is intense, I didn’t know how so until I witnessed for a day. But to balance this out she has a large garden, two dogs, and a flock of chickens named after the Golden Girls. Rose thinks she is a dog, Charlotte wasn’t too thrilled with the actual dogs she had to room with overnight.
I wanted to stay longer, and visit more people, but call to return West was strong, and I had a looming August 1st deadline requiring me to be back in Seattle. So the next morning, after a little Saturday morning brunch, fresh from the garden, I returned to the road to head for Davis, South Dakota – my first camping location just outside of Sioux City.
Davis, South Dakota has a population of 80 people, and my Hip Camp hosts, I found out, run the general store, and maybe the only game in town. Their campsite however, is amazing, and poised for a perfect sunset over a field of corn.
Charlotte and I pointed our chair West and through the hot afternoon humidity, watched it dip below the horizon. Then we lit a fire, roasted marshmallows, and looked up for hours, counting the stars and listening to the Chronicles of Narnia.
It was a good start to another journey.