It's Drive Time

The End of 179 Day Hiatus of the "Statue of Liberty<>Gateway Arch Runyak Expedition

If you are reading this on April 22nd, then my long awaited DAY 214 is in progress. I’m probably paddling, running, or maybe I’m still driving to the starting point, Liverpool IL. Google Maps is saying it is 455 miles. A 6 hour and 50 minute drive.

As in the past trips I will drive in the early hours of the morning to arrive around 8:00 a.m. CDT. By the time I get a long run in, Kate hopefully will have also arrived. We’ll try to launch around 10:00 a.m. CDT. If I get tired during the drive I will stop for a nap. If so, it might put us beyond on a ten o’clock launch. Thus far, assisted by 4 cups of coffee enroute, I’ve never had to take a nap. But, each drive gets longer and longer, so maybe this time a nap might be needed. I’m not one to drive when I get drowsy, the ten o’clock launch is not that important. Drowsy driving is just as dangerous as DUI, in my book.

When I do the final trip, which will hopefully be sometime in 2025, it will be about an 8 hours drive. At my age the hours of driving puts limitations on how far this expedition can be extended. Normally if someone my age drives that far, it ends with a hotel bed not 5 hours of exertion.

Had I started runyaking when younger I could imagine myself extending the expedition all the way to New Orleans. But, there is no national monument there as significant as the Gateway Arch. I can’t imagine a better pairing than Statue of Liberty and the Gateway Arch. Plus, circling the Statue in a kayak, and ending the expedition by running around the arch, ties up the word runyaking in a nice neat bow.

That eight hour drive to St Louis still will not be as bothersome as the last trip to NYC to paddle around Lady Liberty seven years ago. That was a 10:30 hour drive.

That drive marked the first runyak trip that I did not travel though Canada since DAY 34. From DAY 34 to DAY 113, I made 80 border crossings. Not once was I detained for a search. (When not with kayak I’ve been detained twice.) Most often Border Patrol would ask where I was going, or where I’d been. I’d pat my hand on Swiftee’s nose sticking out on the van’s console right beside me and say, “kayaking.” That’s all it took. I guess kayaker’s get a free pass. (I hope no smugglers read this and get wild ideas of stashing drugs in kayaks.)

I’ve never stopped to think about it, but I do spend a significant amount of time driving. When adding all my 1 day, 2 day, 4 day and 5 day trips, this drive to Liverpool is my 143rd runyak trip.

It doesn’t seem like it, but, I may have spent as much time behind the steering wheel as runyaking itself. Not so when I was runyaking close to home. The shortest trip of the 143 was DAY 6, back in 2009. It is where my home watershed, the Flint River runs closest to my house. That would be in Genesee, MI, less than 5 vector miles away. I only drove about 37 miles that day. Far shorter and less tedious then the 455 mile drive to Liverpool today.

I like to compare my Statue<>Arch endeavor to such epic adventures as hiking the entire Appalachian Trail or cycling across the US. But, the many trips and time behind the wheel, does seems to detract from it being as grand of an achievement. Not to mention how many years it has taken me. The Liberty<>Arch may not be as grandiose as the aforementioned, but it is original. It’s never been done before. And if you know me, I want to do extraordinary things that nobody else has done before. In the big picture, which I never considered back in 2009, is that all the driving would be what’s driving me crazy.