The colorful flowers are receding and a light chill is in the evening air in these final few days on the prairie.
Most of the kids in Illinois have now headed back to school, and the campgrounds are starting to thin out from their summer peaks. All fine with me….more quiet prairie to enjoy!
This week I celebrated one year as a full-time RVer—my 1st Full-TimeRVersary! It seems like a lifetime ago that Millie and I were pulling the Winnie out of my empty house’s driveway for the very last time. Has it really just been one single year?
It’s no exaggeration to say that this has been the most monumental year of my life. The steady, predictably flat road my life had been following for the past few decades decidedly met some big curves, peaks, and valleys this year. Life (both the good and the bad) got amplified….loudly.
I set off from Chicago last August with a loose plan to spend the year out West leisurely touring from Baja to the Canadian Rockies. I would never have predicted spending almost half of the year right back here in Chicago where I began.
But still, my first year racked up a respectable 7,000 miles to the bottom of Baja and back—not too shabby!
So what things have I learned from this 1-year roller coaster ride? What 5 pearls of wisdom can I pass on to next year’s crop of full-timers?
It’s been 3 weeks since I returned to my little rolling home on the prairie. The gentle rhythmic hum of crickets and cicadas have replaced the harsh, sudden screeches of the Ring-necked Pheasants. Life on the northern Illinois prairie in late July and August is more calm and laid back than the hectic start of the season in May.
In between my weekly radiation treatments, I’ve been staying at my 2 favorite forest preserve campgrounds (Burnidge and Big Rock on the outskirts of Chicago). No better place to heal and get reacquainted with the nature I have so missed these last few months.
As much as I enjoyed the comforts of my sister and brother-in-law’s house for nearly the past 2 months (and Holley’s delicious dinners), it felt really good to get behind the wheel of the Winnie and head back out to the local campground yesterday. The prairie sure has grown taller with all the rains we’ve had in Chicago this summer!
Holley and Mike didn’t send me away to the same old Winnebago, though. I’ve been the lucky beneficiary of their considerable carpentry and sewing skills for a few desperately desired upgrades to my rolling home—a new bed and new dinette cushions. First up, the new bed!
A few weeks ago when I heard that the band N.E.D. was coming to the Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities in July, I knew I would move heaven and earth to attend. This is no ordinary rock band—the 6 musicians have important day jobs that (rightly) consume most of their time. But a couple weekends a year, these 6 gynecologic oncology surgeons trade their white coats for “RockDoc” attire to perform live together while raising awareness and research funds for GYN cancers.
Their documentary film, No Evidence of Disease, that I watched on PBS back in April, prompted me to pick up the phone the next day and book an appointment with a gynecologist. Plain and simple, had I not seen the movie, I never would have imagined my minor symptoms to be life-threatening, and would likely still be walking around today with a ticking time-bomb in my womb!
So this quick trip to the Quad Cities was my chance to see the band and (hopefully) thank them personally. Little did I know what would be in store for me!
