I woke up that day at 6:50am. I didn’t understand why I woke up so early because I wasn’t restless. Nothing was on my brain but the random thoughts you’d get as you depart from a dream but yet there was enough on my brain that prevented me from falling back asleep. I couldn’t pinpoint what is was though.
I turned on the tv and flipped though the channels. I couldn’t find anything to watch so I decided to get up and cook breakfast. I wasn’t hungry but I knew I was about to go somewhere so I wanted to put something in my stomach before the trip. Where I was going was something I didn’t know at that time. I cooked some rice and warmed up some sausage biscuits. I took a quick shower while I let my food cool down. After coming out of the shower, I found Joel Osteen on the TV. He was preaching about letting go of the past, allowing God to deal with those who did you wrong, and to not look for apologies from those who’ve done you wrong. The sermon was relevant to some feelings I had for a few people. It made me think of all of the fun times I wanted to have with these people in the past but didn’t happen because either they were too busy or didn’t care enough to go out with me.
Once I finished breakfast, I got in my car and just started driving: still not knowing where I was going. This type of thing is not unusual for me. I’ve purposely gotten myself lost many times before in my car to enjoy unknown areas: to admire God’s lands and let my imagination run free. I wound up driving pass my newfound chill area that’s at the Mississippi River shore about 8 miles north of downtown (a very desolate place that holds a trail that runs parallel with the river, providing a great view of the river and Mosenthien Island). I drove pass the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and unto the new Chain of Rocks Bridge. I crossed over to Illinois, barely keeping my eyes in front of me. I couldn’t help but gazing into the river and its beauty. The sun was shining softly upon me because the clouds that took away much of the opacity of the light. The sunrays on the crashing waves of the river made the great Mississippi look like gold.
When I made it to Illinois, I immediately took the first exit and turned to go back to Missouri. As I backtracked, I took a second look at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and it brought back old memories. I went to the bridge once in the early 90s for an elementary field trip. We never actually crossed the bridge but instead met with wildlife experts at the base of the bridge to view bald eagles that would perch on the bridge from December until late spring. Even back in those times, the bridge was actually closed. I wasn’t sure if it reopened but I told myself that that day was the day I was going to go to that bridge and find out. I wanted to at least get close enough to it to take pictures.
The was nowhere to park near the bridge so I parked at my chill spot that was two miles down. I didn’t care if I had to walk a long way. This was something I wanted to do. A spontaneous moment of this caliber is something I would have loved to have with friends but I was tired of waiting on others to enjoy myself. There were so many dreams of activities I let pass me by in life because I didn’t have anyone to spend it with but I told myself that this time wasn’t the case. I was going to walk there: up the trail, through the wooded area, cross the highway, and enjoy myself.
I made it there to find out that the bridge was open for crossing. The trail I was walking on actually led me to the entrance of the bridge. Until this point, I thought that this trail only led me to go the opposite direction of where I was now. I would normally walk the trail from my chill spot to the abandoned resting area where it ended on the south end.
I began to walk across the bridge. As I started elevating from sea level, the wind gusts became stronger. At about 300-400 feet above the Mississippi River, I could barely walk without being pushed by the wind. My fear of heights resurfaced a little as I reached the middle of the bridge above the crashing waves. I began to pray that God would keep me safe cause I questioned the strength of this bridge to stand firm. I pushed on and took some pics. The view was beautiful. I could see a hazy view of the Gateway Arch that was 10 miles down. It was amazing to see the whole Mosenthien Island on the river. From my chill spot, I could only see straight across the island but with this view on the bridge, I stood above it and could see almost the whole perimeter.
The bridge was over a mile long. It definitely gave me a better grasp of how wide this river actually was. I love nature. Seeing the untouched areas of the shore made me think of how God designed such a wonder and how it remained just as God made it. The unusually warm weather for the late November day sealed the deal. When I made it to the end of the bridge, I was surprised to see that it’s finish was on Choteau Island. These two islands I’ve named were places I only read about or fantasized about. I’ve always wondered what it was like to actually travel to one. On that day, I made it there. I would have liked to experience this quest to conquer one of my fears of the unknown with friends, but this experience I had with God was even better. I loved it.
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