Ninety Days
So we left
Illinois as planned. One week at the end of June we packed what possessions we
had left into a truck and hauled it to Kelly’s house on Twin Springs Road on
the bluffs of the St. Croix River.We went back to Illinois for a few days to tie up loose ends and say good-bye to our work. And then we landed back at Kelly’s to catch our breath and carry out the rest of our plan and then some.
Where do I
start…. At the end on September 25, driving the Corolla out of Kelly’s driveway
past the motorhome and watching in the rearview mirror as Don pulled in behind
me, we left Twin Springs Road for the last time. The house empty and the carpet
cleaners preparing for Kelly’s tenants to move in. Or the beginning on the 4th
of July sleeping in and celebrating the holiday with Greg’s family at a picnic
at Minnehaha Park while Kelly walked the Appalachian Trail. Or mowing the lawn
and walking Venus the dog down by the river. Maybe picking raspberries.
Enjoying wonderful summer days. Babysitting long days with Edie while Greg and
Peggy bought their house. Afternoons at Caribou Coffee drinking a latte, taking
advantage of free wi-fi searching rvtrader.com for a place to live. A fine week
in the middle of it all with all of us at a cabin up north by a lake. Finding
the motor home and driving to Green Bay see it and then going back to pick it
up. That anxious trip back across Wisconsin and getting it into Kelly’s
driveway after dark on August 7. Warm evenings on the porch with Kelly over a
glass of wine talking about her decision to move to Philadelphia and rent out
her house. Wonderful dinners with family on Kelly’s deck. Helping Greg install
a new floor in the kitchen of his house. More babysitting. Hours of wonderful
time with Edie. Helping them move. Learning how this thing (camper, motorhome,
coach, rig… call it what you want) works. A “shakedown” trip up north to the
jug band boogie in Effie. 
Camp Deer with family. A week at brother Dick’s house
in Brainerd as the leaves started to change. The warm September day gathering
the neighbor’s apples with Edie while Greg and John Perko emptied Kelly’s house
of all the furniture and boxes. Picking apples at the cemetery and out at the
farm. Spaghetti dinner with Bob, Jean, Ludwig, Dick, Mark and us. Pressing
apples with Kenny and Lori. And finally the heartbreaking task of dismantling
Kelly’s house, moving all our stuff into storage and watching her drive away in
her packed car with Venus happy to be going for a ride. Then dinner with Greg
and Peggy and a tearful good-by. I miss them. 
Today, in the wee hours of the
morning, I am sitting on the sofa in our motor home at the campground in
Davenport, IA. We began our migration south a week ago and so far we spent 2
days at Red Wing (Hay Creek Campground) 2 days at LaCrosse (Goose Island Park),
2 days at Dubuque (Finley’s Landing) and now we are here at West Lake Park. We
will finish this part of our journey with stops in Hannibal, Springfield and Kansas
City to connect with old friends, finish business, and prepare for the next
season and the unknown road ahead.
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