Endings and Beginnings

I am not sure why, but I never finished chronicling the last trip. Maybe it was something embedded in my psyche that if I didn't finish it, my aunt wouldn't die. I don't know. I know I wanted to finish the posts before she transitioned. I wanted her to read the last one. She is one of my biggest supporters and reads all my posts. I didn't finish and she made her transition any way. Now, this years big adventure is supposed to launch THIS week and it's a no go. All travel is cancelled, not just for me, but for the entire world. I'll reflect more on that later. The world is changing in a way and at a speed that no one could have comprehended. For now, I can post the last days of last year's solo adventure and dream of more roads less traveled ...

July 31-Aug 5, 2019

I last left off, meandering my way down the Mississippi. I was headed to the Gulf and had planned to take 2 more weeks before I would arrive home. However, I receive a phone call from Gerard and his Aunt Katherine has made her transition. She is 103 years old, so it is a time for family to gather and he is designated as a pall bearer. He needs to be in Minnesota and I need to takeover kitty care. The trajectory must turn.

I have everything planned to drive the gulf, but I now need to be back in the next few days. I had planned to overnight with my brother-in-law's brother in Pacific, Missouri and I am happy to land at Lori and Tom's home so I can have access to wifi and be able to shift my route and overnight with them. They take good care of me. Feed me and give me space and time to do my planning. Tom and I have a good sit down and chat about previous teaching careers and post-concussive syndrome. He had a terrible bicycle accident and like me, with the motorcycle accident, he doesn't remember much about it. Post-concussive syndrome is a weird thing to have. Outside you look normal, but inside your brain does very weird things. It is one of the reasons I stay off the interstates. There's this thing with semi-trucks fallng over on me. Like I said, very weird things.mAnd as we each are individuals, we heal individually. There's no time line for getting better. Slowly but surely, we do. At least I can now drive on the interstate if I have to and not have a panic attack. Tom now has the time to be daycare provider for his granddaughter, Quinn Grace and grandmother Lori, gets to work in her home office. What a wonderful time to be new grandparents.

After spending two nights with Tom and Lori, I am off at the crack of dawn. I decide to head to Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. I don't think I am aware of how much more river time I will get.

See the first telephone pole on the right? That was supposed to be my turn. I don't think that bar and liquor store will be open any time soon. The river will have to make its exit first. All these midwestern rivers have been flooded for the last many months.

I follow a lot more Mississippi River and cross over the confluence of the Ohio River and ending the day on the Tennessee River or more aptly the Lakes that diverge from that River creating Land Between the Lakes National Park. The set up at the campground in Grand Rivers, Kentucky lends for an evening listening to waves lapping on the shore and a spectacular sunrise. I will drive the 60 miles through the park as I head to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I will be overnighting at one of my favorite Boondocking Welcome sites. It is a beautiful property I stayed at on the fourth night on the road on this trip.

Not much time for hikes and excursions, but I do need to see me some buffalo. The Elk & Bison Prairie offers a native grassland habitat common in Kentucky more than a century ago. Elk and bison roam free within this 700-acre enclosure. I am happy to be in my enclosed vehicle via a 3.5-mile paved loop road. It is a close encounter of an interesting time to be sure. Numerous other wildlife species also thrive in the prairie. Wild turkeys, a variety of birds, small game, butterflies, and prairie mammals find sanctuary in this Prairie.

I arrive at Treblehook Farm with enough time for a visit with Amanda, a soul sister and Lily her beautiful white Swiss shepherd. I am missing my Sitka even more. I will make my exit at the crack of dawn. I have a long drive to Abbeville, Alabama near the Florida border. Another overnight on the water.

Strangely when I arrive, there are just a handful of other campers at this beautiful site. School starts on Monday and folks must be out doing last minute shopping and prep, I enjoy a wonderful, cleansing summer storm and rainbow to bring the trip to close.

I have one more night on the road and it is an overnight with the Grahams in Citrus Springs, Florida. It is where I started this trip.

Rainbow River and a sign that I am almost home.

I don't get much of a kickback to enjoy the last night as I picked up battalions of ants in Abbeville. The ants are everywhere! Jeff, Tyler and Cindy help me nearly empty the van and Jeff bombs it. I spend the next hours in Cindy's laundry room. Cindy prepares dinner and saves my weary soul. I am so grateful for the Grahams coming to the rescue once again. I always feel like they are rescuing me. On the upside, I've accomplished half my chores. Everything is clean and all I will have to do is unload the van and put things away when I arrive back in Cape Coral.

I haven't seen Gerard in two months. It's time to get home.

Onward,

Catherine

“I MAY NOT HAVE GONE WHERE I INTENDED TO GO, BUT I THINK I HAVE ENDED UP WHERE I INTENDED TO BE.” – DOUGLAS ADAMS

April 8, 2020- I am supposed to be leaving in the morning. Heading right back to the Grahams for my first night and meandering the Gulf Coast to Texas over the next two weeks. I just cancelled Gerard's flight to San Antonio where we were to rendezvous and explore Big Bend Nat'l Park. I had planned to spend a month in Utah with another overlanding gal pal, Cori. I was so excited to be picking up my grandson in June and bopping along Route 66. How life changes in an instant.

I did see the pandemic coming back in January (that's what you get when you're retired and have too much time to read), but I was hoping against hope that the world would be spared. Oh my how the world has changed. The destinations remain the same, but how will the journey look in the months to come? I am hoping to possibly do the Utah portion of the trip in October, maybe? Talk about social isolation. What a perfect place to go. I guess these next months will tell. Many of you know we were also going to Peru in September, but we will not leave the country until after a vaccination. Another indefinite postponed trip. For now, I guess I can watch travel videos and enjoy a glass of wine in the ZiOsmobile. And dream.

A Road Less Traveled

The ZiOsmobile wanderings

RECENT POSTS: