DAYS 5 and 6

Mama never said there'd be days like this, one after another.

After spending the night at a highway rest area, I had breakfast at Denny's in Black River Falls, WI. When leaving, I dropped sonething amid the clutter on the floor of the right side of my car. Fishing blindly, I got my thumb impaled on a fishhook enbedded in the floor mat. A kind, bewildered lady stopped her car and removed the clutter. I googled "Urgent Care near me" and somehow drove across town to a clinic. The pain was excruciating, but likely saved me from a messy wound. The staff was wonderful. To keep my mind off the pain, I launched into a routine of silly poems and other stories. A real MD injected my thumb with anesthetic and I managed to get myself  unhooked without resorting to the technique of pushing the hook in further and out again to snip off the barb. That was fortunate. Problems can always be worse, you know. I camped m at a Walmart in Minneapolis.

On Friday, I spent a very pleasant day with Shelly Degolyer and the various bipeds and quadrapeds who have found shelter under her roof. After a much needed nap, I visited the informal George Floyd Memorial on Chicago Ave, just 3 blocks away.

Then my day got a bit scary.

A grey minivan, with one headlamp out, started following me as I drove up Chicago Ave.  He got in front of me and tried unsuccessfully to block the road.  I took some unpredictable turns, but he kept finding me. I got on the highway and he tailed me for 42 miles , at various speeds, 40 to 65 mph, until I called 911 and the dispatcher stayed on the phone with me for about 20 minutes. He acted as if this has happened before. He directed me to a Quickfill, where I waited and waited for the patrol car to arrive, while my stalker slowiy circled the building.  The police detained him for lack of a valid driver's license. They instructed me to leave and find gas at another interchange.

I have been stalked by a black bear on the Appalachian trail, and by a pack of feral dogs while snowshoeing in upstate NY, This experience was no less disconcerting, but the dispatcher at 911 was quite comforting.

I am now at a rest area, en route to Fargo, ND, to find out if it's anything like the movie or TV series.

My car engine is increasingly noisy and the check engine light is on. I really wish this trip was less of an adventure.