After four weeks of everything but riding I had a strong urge to surpass Midway Island as my next virtual waypoint….mission accomplished after an 85 mile week.  It had been since October 12th of last year since I last saw Johnston Atoll, that is probably why swimming seems a natural right now.  Roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, Midway is the only island in the Hawaiian Archipelago that is not part of the state of Hawaii. From 1941 until 1993, the atoll was the home of Naval Air Facility Midway Island, which played a crucial role in the Battle of Midway, June 4–6, 1942. In 1978, the Navy downgraded Midway from a Naval Air Station to a Naval Air Facility and large numbers of personnel and dependents began leaving the island.  The World War II facilities at Sand and Eastern Islands were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1987, and were simultaneously added as a National Historic Landmark.  So, what’s next? Northern Mariana Island at mile 8,790. At my average pace I should be there in about 29 weeks in the middle of March of next year.  After that the vast distances of ocean will subside and shorter stops take over until I get to Cape Verde, off the African coast of Senegal and start working my way across the Pacific. I felt so good about passing a long sought after waypoint I followed up the following week with a102 miles.