Best of October 2017

My October started in Cochita Lake, New Mexico. It included stays in 14 different places: two driveways, two parking lots and ten campgrounds, most of which were state parks. I traveled from New Mexico to Colorado to Kansas to Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, with — if you know your geography well! — a little time in Indiana that didn’t include a stay. I couldn’t tell you how long I was in Indiana because honestly, all the roads run together. The campgrounds, too.

I met some nice people along the way. Fellow Travato owners in a couple of campgrounds; neighbors who invited me to their fire in St. Louis; some helpful southerners with a great dog in Colorado; even a blog reader, her partner, and their adorable baby. (Hi, Kyla!) In general, I think I was more sociable than I often am, which is a good thing.

But — in what is beginning to look like a pattern — my “best of” wasn’t a sunrise or an amazing scenic landscape or even some great activity. It was time spent with family. I think, in fact, that it’s a tie, between a moment and a day. The moment was sitting at my aunt’s kitchen counter, reading my grandmother’s cookbook and laughing at the impossibility of ever recreating some of the recipes. What do you do with a recipe that calls for a package of dates or a five-cent envelope of yeast and includes no details beyond the ingredient list? And the day was yesterday, which included board games with my SIL, niece and nephew; grocery shopping with my brother; a lovely afternoon walk with the dogs and my niece; and a hot shower in a clean bathroom with no sense of hurry.

And some good writing! After a week of no progress on Grace, I finally managed to turn my stuck point into an opportunity, so I’m going to get back to it.

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The best view of the month was at Trinidad Lake State Park in Colorado, and probably that was the best hike, too.

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The prettiest park, though, was Lake of Three Fires State Park, near Bedford, Iowa.