Surprised??? Ok – El Paso, Illinois. We also passed Peru and Mexico – in Indiana.

Karl and I are on the roll west. It was a hard start, leaving my dear friends’ home but headed for the place I – and I think Karl – love best…

We rolled at just before 9 a.m. with 9 as the target departure time. It was cool at just above freezing but got to 40 in short order and above 50 through the day and still 52 now at 6:20 p.m. CDT in El Paso.

It was a different drive than my norm as I was determined to skip Chicago and the Ohio-Indiana-Illinois turnpike. I took Route 24 which was mostly a 2 lane – sometimes 4 but NOT limited access. We cruised through town after midwest farm town – nearly all quaint, beautiful old homes, gorgeous farms, farmhouses and barns. It is not the quickest way to go but it was pleasant – under a blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. No motorhome glitches, no operator error – a good travel day and we rolled into Hickory Hills Campground in El Paso at just after 4:00 p.m. CDT having gained an hour from our EDT start.

Tomorrow is a bit of a question – high winds are forecast…I thought to head for northwest IA which is a 452 mile day …10-12 hours depending on how many breaks I need. I have enough daylight and that gives me a really short weekend the following weekend to Spearfish, SD… The backup plan is Iowa City, IA and a rural campground where I spent a week last trip east. The sticky point is the high winds – gusts to 40 mph are forecast for afternoon- more stress than is “fun” to drive a high profile vehicle. I’ll stop in Iowa City tomorrow and evaluate.

But to wrap up – photos, of course!

Karl – last evening in Ohio

That barn again!

The road…I had been wanting to get a photo that illustrated exactly how narrow these rural roads are…and how DEEP the ditches! No room for error – corners are fun…

The site at Hickory Hills. Karl and I had a wonderful long walk along the rural road that accesses the campground. Post walk – a few treats for Karl, a glass of wine for me and some outside time. We actually had a lot of walking today – normal long walk this morning before leaving, nice long walk around a Wal-mart stop midday and the evening walk. We should both sleep well.

Farm scenery from my site picnic table.

It was love at first site. December of 1993, I was driving from Sandpoint, ID – having been making the rounds of mountain west towns from Taos, NM to Lake Tahoe, CA to Bend, OR to Sandpoint – looking for a new place to live. I was born in northwest Ohio and left to take a job in San Francisco area in 1979. In 1981 I moved south to Los Angeles where I lived, worked, started my consulting business – spending my young adult years in the “big city”.

The first time I saw the Flathead Valley and the mountains of the Swan Range, the Whitefish Range and the Bob Marshall Wilderness was after spending several days in Coeur d’Alene (south of Sandpoint) – liking that area enough to look at homes with a realtor. I was newly married at the time, 37, and we were looking for a family spot. As we drove west of Libby, MT and the road started flattening to the valley floor – with those ranges of the rockies rising out of the east side of the valley – that was it…I was in love and I knew that I had come home. It was NOT home for my husband and he departed Montana and the marriage. I stayed and have been there on my own since 1996.

Twice I have explored the U.S. to see if there was a spot I’d rather live – not out of unhappiness with Montana, but with the sheer love of adventure and exploration that is also part of me. Twice I got so homesick for Montana that I made a mad dash back.

This winter I left again – not for another place, but for another love – for a man. It is not a move that I regret, but that has hit a snag and I’m on my way to my home in Montana. Karl and I, in the Winnebago, are pointed west – we will take our time and enjoy the journey, but I will be glad to be back – home in Montana.

Above – Karl and I in Dillon,MT – first morning “back in Montana” – Dec, 2005 – after a month in Camp Verde, AZ. The interesting thing [to me] about this photo – I had the camera on a tripod and I intended to be looking at the camera with Karl next to me. As I walked out to where Karl was, he was looking toward the mountains in a way that drew me to look also forgetting entirely about the camera setup… I love this photo.