The best laid plans and all that…sometimes it’s just better to trust one’s instincts… I’ve been offline for awhile due to a crisis in Los Angeles. Kind of a big crisis actually, but my mothering instincts helped save my mother’s life from 2600 miles away.  So, as much as I want to break away from nourishing others, I can’t say I’m there yet. 

Maybe it’s a female thing or maybe just a lifetime of knowing the nuances of someone’s voice but after talking to my mother in the wee hours of the morning last Friday, my mothering instinct kicked in and forced me to call my brothers who live in the same city as she does and tell them she needed to get to a hospital ASAP.  When I had spoken with her the previous evening she thought she may have gotten the flu but now as time had passed it was apparent something else was going on…Her heart rate dropped to 30, BP 40/?  She was cold and shivering on the floor covered in bodily wastes but managed to answer my call…One of my brothers arrived, broke the door down, called 911 and got her to the hospital.  He was told in another half hour she would have been gone.  Now, five days later she is in surgery as I type, getting a pacemaker imbedded (or whatever they do) and I’m by a lake in Michigan sending her healing thoughts from the deep mothering place that is a part of my core.  

UPDATE from the hospital…Mama is ok, as now, am I.  For those of you out there in viritual reality that don’t know me personally, one of my mothering tasks of late has been ‘taking care of’ my mother.  Living in the same house our roles have sort of reversed …she is still very independent but I definitely do care for her needs.  It is a very delicate dance we do, her needing more care and not wanting to acknowledge it nor give up her   unique ways of doing things and me not wanting to step on her toes, not really wanting to do all the work but seeing it needs to be done.  Read between the lines here… it is a challenge but in my heart of hearts I am honored to participate in the circle/cycle of life like this opportunity affords.

Two books that I have read on this trip that address the mother/daughter care giving issue (albeit in a somewhat dark light) are The Almost Moon, Alice Seybold and Three Women, Marge Piercy.  Read the review of Sebolds book in the New Yorker   and knew I had to read it…opens with the daughter murdering her mother after her mother shits herself and works backward exploring their intensely emotional and fractured relationship.  Not like my relationship but did evoke some self examination.  It’s relatively current.  The Piercy book I bought at a yard sale 3 years ago and tells the tale of a mother, daughter and grand-daughter… all three women are complex and larger than life, also involves murder and redemption…The mother daughter relationship as the roles change is obviously of great interest to me…is it to you? Discuss….

I will, of course, keep you posted as our mission progresses. Additional details of our daily log will be forthcoming. A runner was sent towards your location several days past, and should be in your hands post haste.  As always, I remain your humble servant and faithful subordinate -

Yours truly,

Captain James Rutherford Wilson

The weather was clear, but cool (unseasonably so?) with temperatures peaking in the high fifties. We decided to hop off the freeway to do a quick tour of Holland, MI, since it was a topic of a recent travel video we rented. It was definitely worth it, even though we missed the tulip festival by a few weeks. This is what I like to refer to as a “button town”, meaning to the uninitiated, that it is “as cute as a button”. And so it was, with beautiful old homes, tulip lined streets, and even a resident wooden clog maker. The town sparkled like the Emerald City. We stopped and walked through the town’s central park, complete with an old fashioned band-stand, and tulips everywhere. It is along these trees, full, dense, and hanging low, that I cought my RV TV antenna on a branch and ripped out the raising mechanism. Oh well, who needs TV with a whole string of button towns ahead.

We escaped the gravitational pull of Chicago, which was considerable. The decision to “see” Chicago was both a good and a bad one. We whizzed down Lake Shore Drive trying to see as much as possible while not infuriating the local drivers. They are an unruly lot, reminding me of LA drivers, i.e., not letting you “in”, etc. and honking a lot. I didn’t see any guns though. I was hoping to be able to spot a Chicago hot dog vendor so Abby could sample what she kept saying was the “local fare”, but no such luck. Pulling over in anything, let alone an RV pulling a jeep would have been sure death. We hopped back onto the Interstate that would take us East and ended up having to pay about $12 for a 3 mile stretch. The toll road continued, and I started worrying about having enough cash at that rate/mile. Fortunately, once out of the city, the rates declined significantly. On through Gary Indiana. It’s probably a nice town, once you get to know it, but from the freeway it looked like Chicago’s poor relative.

By this time, I was growing weary having negotiated the 50 foot beast through dense traffic and angry drivers. We pushed on to Michigan City, where I had made reservations the night before. We arrived exhausted, but satisfied that we had achieved some of our secondary objectives, such as visiting Abby’s mother’s old “hood”. If only we could have found an authentic Chicago hot dog stand! Nothing to commend this particular RV park I’m afraid, other than it was one of the few in the area East of Chicago, and for enough outside of the city to be graffiti free. At least we had a quiet, restful night.

After a number of hours going through small farm towns, and mile after mile of newly planted fields, we arrived at Lake Clinton. They have “camp hosts” here to advise, take your money, etc. They were pleasant enough, but I guess “alcohol” is a big no-no, so we were asked if we had any on board. I said “I thought we might have a bottle of wine or two”. The camp host kinda winked and said to keep it under wraps. Judging from here demeanor, I think she welcomed any travelers that would/could leave her a bottle or two.

We had a lovely isolated spot on just up from the lake, with a path leading down to a small beach. In the morning, we made Maggie’s day by taking a short hike along the lake before departing for Chicago.

In Chicago, we looked up the birth place of Abby THe Design Goddess’s mother, Miriam. It was in Argo-Summit, IL, just southeast of downtown Chicago. Things have evidently changed since she grew up here, as it the area was pretty grubby. The grocery store that here family owned, with living upstairs, was now a TV repair shop, and by all appearances, a crack house up stairs. The whole area had a peculiar odor, kind of like slightly fermented tomato sauce. Anyway, we took many pictures for RV Mama’s Mama, and will report the sad news about her old digs.

We decided to do a quick loop through Chicago, so headed straight East and hopped on the famous Shore LIne Drive. Chicago is another one of those places we wished we could explore more – a beautiful looking downtown, art museums, etc., but it’s not easy parking a 35 foot RV towing a jeep in a busy, crowded, metropolitan area! Again, maybe “next time”.

What can I say, I can see why KOAs stay in business and do reasonably well – they are everywhere, and always convenient to the weary traveler. This one was just south of St. Louis. Again, pleasant, clean, curtious employees, and relatively attractive sites. No grief about our dog Maggie here – laissez faire.   

Today we where driving from Chicago, IL to Michigan City, IN and I spotted this truck that aparently had a overloaded trailer that decided to fold in on the middle of the highway.

It looks as if it just split open as there was no sign of a crash.

There was also lots of other stopped trucks, probably witnesses to what happened and a bunch of cop cars.

Take a look at the crazy photo (click image to go big)…