June 13, 2001 - Departure Day!

We initially headed north and stopped in Mena, Arkansas (who would have thought Arkansas was so pretty??) to look up an old friend of Don's, who ended up not being in town.

The state parks we've stayed at have been fabulous! In Tyler we drove through a canopy of huge pine trees that had an enchanted forest feel to get to the site next to one of the nicest hiking trails I've ever seen that wound around a picturesque lake. In Hot Springs, Arkansas we also had waterfront property on Lake Catherine complete with a fishing dock and the company of geese and heron. There I enjoyed a day of being pampered in a restored bath house in - soaking in the warm mineral waters, attendants leading me to steam baths and needle showers, followed by a soothing massage: it doesn't get much better, let me tell you!

Driving down the highways and country roads - no matter what the scenery, there is something inherently satisfying about being somewhere I've never been before. Pulling into the parks, visiting with the attendants, getting the RV all hooked again, greeting and swapping stories with the other campers, spending a couple of relaxing days and then taking off down the road to do it all again someplace else.

Our basic routine after breakfast has been to go for a walk in the hiking trails located in the park, do whatever else needs to be done or see whatever else we want to see, then walk again after dinner, then sit around the campfire watching the fireflies and stars. Needless to say, I'm loving this life!

June 25, 2001

We're getting ready to leave for Algonquin, Illinois now. Although I've enjoyed something about every town and park we've been to, I get so excited when it's time to hit the road again. As we were sitting outside last night talking about the next leg of our trip, it hit me in a new way how much I enjoy my new home. She is so comfortable and comforting as I am getting more familiar with her. I'm finally getting everything organized the way it should be after doing and re-doing a thousand times. And not only am I enjoying my home all the more, I especially appreciate that she takes me wherever I want to go!

I even love waking up in the morning having to think about where it is I am that day. We've been traveling about every 2-3 days and although when I start working I'll have to be in an area longer, I find that I am ready to hit the road after then. I actually start getting wanderlust and am anxious to see what lies ahead.

We visited Unity Village on Saturday and took the tour of the grounds and attended services on Sunday. It was a beautiful place with a peaceful feel to it. We walked the labyrinth where they said that when you enter, you may pose a problem or question you want answered and that during the walk the answer may come to you. As I entered and tried to think of a problem great enough to ponder, it hit me how wonderful it was that I really couldn't think of anything that I was that troubled about - truly in my past an unusual state for me. Also, I had no real questions because I know I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing so what is there to question? Then the thought entered my mind: "there are really no problems anyway - only potential resolutions." So what I contemplated as I meandered through the labyrinth was that everything that happens or is presented to us in life is simply an experience - and the reason we are here to begin with is to experience all that life has to offer. So there really are no problems - only opportunities to experience who we are in relation to any given situation - whether we deem it a problem or a blessing, it matters not. Our only job is to experience it, learn from it, discover and decide who we are now that we've had the experience, and move on.

So today we are moving on from Kansas City and heading towards Algonquin. I spoke to my friend Judith recently and the timing for our visit is perfect. She has a booth at the Renaissance Fair next week and we'll be able to attend as her guests. We plan to be in that area for a week - not only to visit with her, but there's lots to see in the Chicago area that I'm interested in. As nice as it is to pack up and hit the road, I'm also looking forward to staying put for a little while. Cooler weather means more campfires at night and that's one of my favorite parts of life as a full-time RVer.

July 17, 2001

Following Cedar Point, our next experience was a night's stay at "Wally World" a/k/a the parking lot of Wal-Mart at Ashtabula, Ohio. I didn't know until reading in all the RV forums about how Wal-Mart actually encouraged RV'ers to spend the night there. It's good PR for them, a free place to stay for the tired RV'er just needing a place for 1 night on route to a destination, and of course, you always end up shopping while you're there, so it's not a total loss for them. Anyway, I decided I wanted to try that experience out. So I did and now I don't need to experience it again. The sounds of shopping carts and blaring lights all night did not afford the best sleep when you need it for the next day's drive. Oh well, I wanted to try everything and it certainly could do again in a pinch. I suppose you could also tell a lot by the name of Ashtabula - suffice it to say I would not make that one a final destination again.

While I had planned to spend the summer in upstate New York with a new friend, one of the discoveries I made during the first part of this journey was that I was already doing what I wanted to do. It's been great traveling side by side with Don and neither one of us was ready for that to stop. While this part of the journey has certainly been unexpected, it's the best of both worlds, really - romance, great companionship, total compatibility of goals and preferred lifestyle, loads of laughs, and yet we both have our own homes which affords us the privacy and alone time we also need. Pinch me, can this be real? Well, as says the eternal truth: one day at a time is all we have anyway, and these one days have been fabulous!

We spent the night on the way back from Niagara Falls in a little park in the Adirondack Mountains. By the time I parked Inspiration in one of the smallest slots we'd been in so far, there was a crowd gathered around with women cheering that a woman was driving such a huge machine and had parked it so effortlessly. Actually, she is big but comes equipped with a backup video camera with audio, and I have Don at the side with his now-familiar signals, so under those conditions, it's really not as hard as it would first appear to be. Actually that's a perfect analogy for a lot of the problems we create and limitations we set on ourselves - if we would just set about using the help that is all around us, we would accomplish a lot more than we ever suspected if all we looked at were the difficulties and the size of the perceived problems.

Today has been a fantastic day - we just took this whole day to recuperate a little. I was able to thoroughly clean Inspiration, do laundry, etc. and get prepared for the next part of the journey. I was still able to go outside and spend a few hours communing with the babbling brook running in the back of my home. That's actually the name of the park we're in - the "Babbling Brook RV Park" in Westville, NY. A new park, less than a year old, not crowded and quiet. I truly enjoyed my day talking to the willow trees and the seagulls. It was really nice to lounge in the lawn chair in the sun with the breeze keeping me cool while the sounds of the water soothed my soul - it doesn't get any better than this. Thank you, God!