Driving into Chicago

Wow, a week ago I was in Vermont. Yesterday afternoon I drove into Chicago. What has happened here?  Yes, I am traveling west. I am missing the big open spaces and feeling the urge to move towards home.

Pauline, Nugget at the brink of Salmon Falls

Where have I been?  I spent 2  nights on Lake Ontario camping in a huge camping park. I have found that owning a small Class B RV immediately adds you to a group of devoted followers. Pauline has been following my blog and invited me to meet her at her camp in Pulaski, NY. I met her and her hubby, Harris and Nugget the dog. I was shown around the small town of Pulaski. This town is known for fishing fresh water salmon. We did an easy hike into Salmon Falls. A few nice features about this area is its proximity to the 1000 Islands, the Finger Lakes and the Canadian border (1 1/2 hrs north).

From New York I headed south and west. I camped for a night in a cornfield in NY state. This night I became a full time RVer using all my bathroom facilities for the first time. I will not say more. LOL

Tripp & Brittany

I  traveled to Ohio to visit my niece, Brittany and her husband, Tripp. Tripp has started his first job as an assistant Presbyterian Minister in Granville which is just outside Columbus, Ohio. Brittany is successfully employed at another Presbyterian Church in Columbus. I did not know my two nieces when they were growing up. I have had the opportunity to get to know them as adults. I enjoy both of their company very much. Britt and I explored Granville. On Sunday morning while they both worked I got on a bike and did a 12 mile ride through the country-side and explored the Dennison College Campus.  What a delightful town this is. We also attended the local polo matches and had the opportunity to stomp the divots. Remember that scene in “Pretty Woman”? I am thankful to have relationships with both of these ladies. I am glad I finally got to know them. They have been lovingly supporting me and Jim with e-mails and cards and prayers. I am glad they are in my life.

Polo in front of the Bryn Du Mansion

Pretty Women Stomping the Divot

I was concerned about driving my RT into the big city. with some encouragement from my good friend, Helen I finally braved it and drove into Chicago during rush hour. This was not good planning on my part. Even then, it was manageable. When I got Rogers Park I drove down and alley and successfully parked my RV behind the building and even found a plug to keep my house battery charged.

Here are my tips for driving a small RV into a big city.

• Pick a lane and stay in it. Don’t change lanes until you have to.
  

  Driving down a Chicago alley

• Be nice. If there is a merge area slow down even more and let people in. I purposely let a motor scooter in so the driver was not behind this huge vehicle. I have a scooter and trust me everything looks big.
• Be assertive not aggressive.
• Watch the signs so you don’t have to turn where you don’t want to.  Get out of those right turn lanes.
• Remembering it takes longer to stop, I made sure there was enough road space between me and the vehicle in front.
• if I was too close to a light that was changing I just continued to move along with many others.
• Go with the flow.
• Take pictures out the window when sitting at a stop light. (wish these posts had smiley faces)
• Be Courageous. This saying has been up on the wall of our house since Jim got diagnosed with metastatic cancer. It is now in the Roadtrek. It Is often a good reminder to me.

My adventures, so far have been large and small. What I do find is, that with a plan, a little bit of courage and a great sense of adventure I am up for almost anything. If I am nervous about something it helps to talk with someone. If no one is around making a plan, remembering to breath and just taking one step forward will get me to my destination, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

One time Jim and I had taken our snowshoes to Palm Springs. Yes that is right, Palm Springs. We took the tram to the top of San Jacinto Peak and went snow shoe hiking at 10,000 feet. The trail we decided to hike was steep, with sections of it being very steep. We started pointing to a tree a little way up the trail and made it our goal to reach that tree. When we arrived we looked toward another tree further up the trail and that was our next goal. By dividing it into small, manageable pieces we finally made it to the top of a saddle. after that when something would come up that was challenging or difficult, our motto became “just one tree at a time”. I have remembered that motto often over these past three plus years.

Today, I am thankful for my friends and fellow readers of this blog for their loving support and interest in this journey.

Snowshoeing at the Top of The Tram