Shapes and colors ricocheted around my consciousness as darkness slowly oozed over every effort to fight off drowsiness. I searched my watch for relief in the form of distance traveled, but it appeared stuck in time.

I finally spoke, “Jake…my mind isn’t right.”

Jake replied, “Do you think you can follow me?”

With only a shimmer of confidence, I uttered, “Yeah.”

“I’ll lead, just focus on my bib.”

I was about to enter the spirit world with little recollection of the next five hours. With 180-plus miles behind me, I was about to embark on my final journey.