Sentimental Journey

Hi Everyone!

This past week has been a such sentimental journey for me...I wasn't sure what to say in a blog.

Wisconsin feels like home. We moved to Wisconsin after living in Rock Valley, Iowa for the first two years of our marriage and I was so happy to be back in wooded terrain, I wrapped Wisconsin around me like a comfortor. I am happy and comforted to be back once again. Cal says simply, "I love Wisconsin."

My heart was in my throat I drove through the mist toward Mineral Point and Darlington, Wisconsin. The 18 months we lived there were highly formative. This was Cal's first job out of grad school and our first time alone in the big world that wasn't Dutch. We were both charmed and frightened. Very lonely at times and very happy at others. I remember a very harsh Wisconsin winter in a drafty old house upstairs apartment carrying my electric blanket from outlet to outlet, listening to the wind roar outside. (Yesterday, I was able to take pictures of the old place which has fallen into such disrepair that it is almost beyond rescue.) We had little money, but we had fun - iceskating on Yellowstone Lake, listening to deep sounds of clear ice cracking beneath our skates, the black trees silhouetted against the red winter sunsets. Everything was fun. Everything was new. The details I remember about that time and place are sharp and fine.

Finding a small church family in Gratiot, Wisconsin gave us roots while we lived in that area and beyond, and was an important lesson in how to find community away from home. Cal and I were growing up. It was to Darlington that Cal and I brought Rachel from the Madison Hospital - a new family. She was only 4 months old when we moved away - she doesn't remember, but Darlington is her town. All the waiting and worrying and longing was done there. The intense joy of adoption and the great loneliness of not being able to have children - both are Darlington.


I am glad to see that Darlington is prospering about as much as a small town in Southwest Wisconsin can.

Be sure to look for this courthouse in Johnny Depp's new movie Public Enemies. They filmed scenes at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Darlington less than a block from our apartment. The clock rang the hour.

We are now traveling roads in Illinois and Iowa that I have traveled before...to a funeral, on a retreat, to a family reunion, to visit friends, on bike rides... Ron is biking with Cal and that seems to make reentry into the familiar a little less of a shock.

We stayed in Palisades State Park near Savanna, Il last night...A wonderful camping and hiking park on the bluffs of the Mississippi. Tonight I am tromping in crunchy, colorful oak leaves on the Wapsipinacon River. The trees are tossing down leaves with every stir of breeze. Oh, acorns too. It smells like fall.

Thank God for memories.
Love,
Mary

Salem

Thank you for your prayers. The route we took to Salem was residential the whole way and except losing Cal now and then, all went well. We celebrated our arrival in Salem with a nice motel and dinner and a down day absorbing the sights and sounds of Salem. Pulling and parking a camper through the streets of Salem was quite an experience. (And of course, now I am reading a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne.) We had one last celebratory meal of fresh fish at The Captain's Waterfront Grill and Pub with a beautiful view of the harbor. And then goodbye to the east.

We are back in the Midwest after an allnighter across the eastern United States which took the stuffing right out of me. I am sitting on a couch at my brother-in-law, Philip's house in Dyer, Indiana barely able to move. Time to regroup for Part IV of the bike tour. Milwaukee to Pella.

Tonight we will be meeting our friend, Ron, who will be joining us for this last jog.
We will be traveling familiar terrain as Cal and I lived in Madison and Darlington, Wisconsin early in our marriage. It will be fun to see!

See you - SOON!
Love,
Mary

Satisfaction

KOA Campground...$30.00

McDonalds extra value meal #2....$4.63

3 bicyles inner tubes...$19.13

Total Satisfaction...

PRICELESS

Mad Dash for the Sea

We are sitting in a Super 8 Motel waiting for the rain to abate as we make our last mad dash for the sea. We have had trouble with the trailer lights...Cal has them working but they are very dim and that is frightening for me as we meet east coast traffic. This is the first time I have felt nervous about about driving with the camper. We carefully went over maps last night and picked out our roads to Salem. There are no direct routes- so we had to cut and paste our way to Salem. I am praying for guidance as I face this last challenge.

See you there!

Love,
Mary

I Don't Want To Talk About It

First, let me remind you of the elvin woods where we stayed last night, the quiet deep dripping forest. Surely there were elves in that woods! We were serenaded by a breathy flute playing elvish music before we went to sleep at 10:00. It floated through the forest for about 5 minutes. Leaving the campground, I inspected each campsite trying to guess which one had gifted us with the flawless haunting melody. I didn't dream it. Cal heard it too!

The rest of the day I want to forget.

Love,
Mary

Massachusetts

Do any of you get tired of computer passwords?!

One night, I am sleeping under a floodlight in a United Methodist Church Parking lot in the city and the next night, I am camping deep in a Berkshire Mountains forest with rain tapping on the camper. Never a dull moment... (Thank you Mckownville United Methodist Church for your interest in us and giving us such a prime location to stay. Remember - location is everything!)

I think Albany, New York is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever gotten lost in. Of course I got behind a bus and couldn't see the signs and got to see more of Albany than I really had planned to do. I told my sister, Marcia, that I am like a gerbil in a maze. Put me in one side of the city and I am bound to come out the other side if you wait long enough. (We won't talk about the intelligence quotient- only the satisfaction quotient.) Someday, I am going to come back to New York State and really visit - without the camper - and with a map. Anyway...

Now we are Massachusetts. If you are following on a map we are heading north on highway 112 to highway 2 and taking highway 2 tomorrow to Fitchburg or thereabouts - some heavy duty mountain biking for Cal and lots of pretty sites for me. I am pleased to see the mountains one last time on our trip. I asked Cal what he thought about being in the mountains again and he's happy about it too. Lovely and less traffic.

We have Salem in our sites. Now - if it will just stop raining....

Love,
Mary

Golden September

It was a golden fall day and one of the most pleasant driving days that I've had. There was a little more space to breathe between charming towns and traffic lights. I would highly recommend New York for you biking enthusiasts. Good biking lanes, great stopping stops, and fairly easy terrain. There were pretty demanding drivers in the western part of the state, but they seemed to be a lot more relaxed in central New York, even kind. People here are almost stunned that anyone would attempt to bike across the United States. Out west, it was more accepted as a normal thing to do.

I also want to record that last night's shower in a campground in Montezma stunk. It was so full of sulfur- it smelled like rotten eggs. I am sure it had healing properties of some sort, but I had to hold my nose to wash my face. It's not an easy thing to do.

I was able to relax a little and take a few pictures this evening. Our campground is a Herkimer diamond mine and tomorrow I hope to take some time and look at their rock store. I love rocks...not to wear, but because they are so old and it's like holding history in the palm of your hand. Each one is work of art by nature. I like to pick up rocks along the way on our trips and just put them in the garden. I know some people take the time to label where they got them. I really don't care. I like the fact they just jumble together with my everyday stones and I can't always tell which is which. I still know they're there.

A perfect September day. Hope yours was as well.
Peace,

Mary