Road Trip with a Raindrop: 90 Days along the Mississippi River

A raindrop that falls into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota will reach the Gulf of Mexico 90 days later. When award winning National Geographic photographer, Gayle Harper, read this small snippet of trivia about the Mississippi River, it completely changed her life. That little known fact sent her world spinning in a new direction. She knew in that instant that she would make a 90-day road trip, following the entire course of the Mississippi River, while keeping pace with an imaginary raindrop that she would call “Serendipity.”
That 2,400 mile journey turned into an award winning book and documentary. The Community Members at Creekside were blessed with a private presentation and book signing event by Gayle on our Campus. It was a two month wait to be honored with her presence due to her busy national tour, but it was well worth the wait!
As she described her adventure with her calm soothing voice, you could feel the magic she felt along the way. The trip was not funded by a publisher; it actually funded itself as local people offered lodging to her as she traveled along the Mississippi. She stayed in places such as a fisherman’s cabin, a trendy downtown loft, a tugboat converted to a B&B, a plantation mansion, a sharecropper’s cabin – and once, an entire 30-room manor! She made many new friends along the way who she said felt like “old” friends with their open warmth and hospitality.
Many Community Members stayed after the presentation for the book signing and many purchased copies for friends and family for Christmas gifts. Gayle’s presentation was an “unexpected treasure” that will be kept in the hearts and memories of many people here at Creekside as they travel the Mississippi through her eyes.