May 12, 2001 (Day 66)

May 12, 2001 (Day 66): St. Paul, Minnesota – late

The train rolled into the Twin Cities about 9am – one and a half hours late. Fortunately, my parents had cell phones so they could communicate our delay to my sister, who planned to meet us at the station. The advantage was that we had a little more time to get ready, shower and get a cup of coffee into us.

Our nephew Dylan’s excitement when he saw us at the station was electric. Granted, he was happier to see Grandma and Grandpa than to see his aunt and uncle, but who cares?  We tossed our bags in the truck and made our way out for a filling breakfast of Cinnamon French Toast.

Nearest I can tell we have been eating non-stop since exiting the train.

Familiar territory has provided a great opportunity to re-stock with a visit to the Holy of Holies, the Source of All Things. In other words: Target. I fought the urge to kiss the ground as we entered this hallowed future World Heritage site. Toiletries, clothing, and a new notebook; all at places I expected them to be. It is funny how wonderful the little things can be.

My parents and sister pulled together a great party for us in the party room at a local hotel, complete with Green Mill pizza and cakes decorated to look like maps of the globe. It was a thrill seeing the words “Chasing Fogg” there on the hotel marquee. The party was a great opportunity to visit with friends and family, some I had not seen in years. Sadly, I did not circulate as well as I should have. I am terribly uncomfortable with being the focus of the party. Truth be told, I was equally bad at this at our wedding reception. Moreover, I guess I was shocked by the outpouring of affection; that all of these people had come to see us.

The guests asked us a lot of tough questions. What was the best place?  What was the most exciting part? What was the best food? The last one, at least, was easily answered (Mongolian Hot Pot). One of the most common questions asked us was when we were moving back.

It was such a great chance to see so many people; to have a chance to get together where it is not a wedding or funeral. We all age, some better than others. Children who were infants the last time I saw them are now in school. It underscored how long I had been away. A friend of ours had a brilliant idea and brought a copy of Around the World in Eighty Days for people to sign.

The advantage of having the party at the hotel was it gave the kids something to do other than hang around with old people. My nephew took the chance to go swimming at the pool. Later, he and his sister unwound watching a couple of Scooby Doo episodes. The rapt attention my niece had for the show was very entertaining.

On the wall of the room was a world map of our trip with our route marked. I stood and stared at it thunderstruck with disbelief. It was a real shock for me to look at that map and realize that we have been all those places on this trip. Seeing the scope of this journey laid out on one sheet boggled my mind. For a moment, it felt like someone else’s trip. It also helped echo that the earth is a big place. Despite going around it, despite what we are seeing, there is so much still out there. How tiny our little path looked against the enormity of the world.

The map gave me a perspective about the distance we have truly covered that I had lost. It is easy to get caught up in the “day-to-day” experience of the trip: where we are, what are we doing, packing, unpacking. For those who have been following our trip, it is easier to see the bigger picture: where we are going and where we have been. They were able to envision the entire trip as a single large journey. Like Fogg, I guess I was viewing it mathematically, a series of connections, small journeys connected end-to-end. I focused on the brushstrokes. They saw the Water Lilies.

Excerpts from Anna’s journal included

• ChasingFogg15
• Minnesota
• Travel
• USA