Embracing the Woo-Woo: A Psychic Writer Discovers America from an RV: A Summer Birthday

Yesterday was Rick's 51st birthday and we had a lovely day, free from anxiety for the first time in weeks. The beginning of the month is always the easiest and we happily paid the storage and the car payment. We went out for breakfast to a nice little restaurant here in Hampton, Illinois, where we are parked at Fisherman's Corner Campground, just south of Interstate 80, right on the Mississippi River. As we drove back to the campground, we passed Illiniwek Park and stopped to walk part of the trail to the scenic overlook. Although we didn't make it far, a little walking is better than none.

Later, Rick ran errands and I putzed around the RV, doing little things and just enjoying the morning. In the afternoon, we went to the grocery store, visited my daughter Mary Ellen who was working there, and stopped at the Goodwill to pick up a few needed things. We purchased a small crockpot and a griddle ($6 each) to have a wider variety of cooking methods than just the microwave. We figured it was less expensive than filling the propane tank (approximately $50), and less expensive than eating at fast-food restaurants. I was in need of some new pants, as my old ones are shredding at the waistband, and because most of them are getting to be too big and they are constantly threatening to fall down. I've lost about 25 pounds since we began our adventure and I was tickled to be able to shop for pants. I found a pair of jeans--real jeans, not fat-girl, elastic-waisted jeans--but jeans that fit perfectly. Tight across the bottom, straight-legs and just the right length (short). I haven't looked that good in a pair of pants in years, and I was thrilled! I found some other very nice pants to wear for the shows and such, two in summer colors (yellow and pink) and two year-round colors (black and navy blue). As a splurge, I bought a pretty embroidered v-neck t-shirt for the full price of $3.85. The others I got half-off (green tag day).

When we returned to the campground, there was a big turtle in the road! There's that turtle medicine again.

Because it was Rick's birthday, we went into Port Byron and visited two of the taverns there, where Rick was gifted his birthday drinks (many taverns will buy you a drink on your birthday). We visited with some very nice folks, chatted about the town, with Rick cutting up and playing stand-up comic. It was genuinely fun and we were happy to come home at nine and watch a video.

We discovered that instead of renting videos, we can check them out of the library. This gives us a week to watch them and no charge! I like it because I can get documentaries. Without a satellite dish, we have few options for television viewing--depending on the campsite, we may get as many as ten channels, or as few as none! Fisherman's Corner is one of those where we are lucky if we get two or three, but sometimes we don't get anything at all.

Today, I have to clean and rearrange our "kitchen" and figure out how to best set up and store the crockpot and griddle. This morning I am writing, finished up a book review (http://www.cattfoy.com/beaucoup-reviews.html), and generally enjoying our unseasonably mild summer weather! What a relief after the spring we've had.

Photos from Fisherman's Corner: