Trippin' with Susan Straley

It is a cool grey Monday - 8/3/2020 I am loving it! I am feeling free and healthy and satisfied in spite of some disappointments. This is a picture of the one fire I built this whole trip.  I sat and watched it for 10 minutes.  Then it was done, I was done.  All done. There is a hole in the dirt outside the screen-tent where I have my portable sink. The hole is nicely round.  One afternoon I was washing dishes.  There inside the entrance to the hole was a cute grey mouse.  I smiled inwardly, "I now have a low-maintenance pet!"  I tried to move closer without scaring it away.  I took a picture through the screen with my phone.  It didn't turn out real clear.  I was excited to share with you the discovery of my little companion. There was a bit of celery that had fallen to the ground, and a corn chip.  I walked around the screen-tent to get a better picture, but the little grey guy was gone. I set the treats outside the hole. Today I saw him again just inside his hole looki

Morning - July 6, 2020 It is quiet and peaceful here this morning.  The birds are singing.  Most of the guests here are still sleeping or soaking in their morning coffee. If I just look in front of me I see trees and grass.  I am fortunate to have an end of the aisle site at the very busy, sardine can lay-out of the Timberline Campground in Goodfield, Illinois. When I entered the campground yesterday around noon I was a bit shocked.  This place was buzzing with golf carts and dirt buggies zipping around at high speed sending up dust clouds that hovered over the air.  The pool area was packed, groups of people were gathered at campsites. I got here so early because I packed up all I could and hooked up last night for an early departure.  I must have left the campground in Vienna, IL around 6:15 a.m. The drive here was uneventful except for a few miles on a flat but wavey pavement very straight country road.  I had to drive it at 40 mph.  Mostly I was on the interstates.

6/29/2020 Hello and Greetings from Blackwater River State Park, I expected the Blackwater River in the panhandle of Florida to be dark, but it is pretty clear in the shallows as it winds leaving lots of clean sandy beaches along its banks in this area. I don’t have WIFI here in the state park, so I am writing this in my word document and will upload it when I have have access to WIFI. Saturday 6/27/2020 There is a dust cloud from the Sierra Desert that has blown over the ocean to here.   It looks like a regular over-cast sky but it seems to be up higher than a normal overcast sky.   Someone asked if it was going to rain.   No, I thought, the clouds are too high.     The dust cover was nice as it provided a bit of relief from the sun on these warm and humid days.   Several of us Sisters floated in the springs keeping cool and sharing stories.   One of the sisters (I will call her June to protect her identity) shared her concern that her husband (who comes f