The trek north

Back in early June, I took a trip north to Wisconsin to visit with my agent and to speak at the Wisconsin RWA chapter’s conference in Green Bay. Over the next couple of days, I’m going to put up photos from my trip.

The first stop was my hometown in Kentucky, where I had a book signing at the local library for my two newest books. Before the signing, however, it was annual Take Mom to the Cemeteries Day. We drive to several cemeteries in two counties to place flowers on the graves of family members. OMG, it was hot! I think I heard the grass screaming for mercy. Prior to heading out on our excursion, I sold a couple of books to my mom’s next-door neighbor, a very sweet lady who is 90 and is constantly on the go. I caught her on her Red Hat Society day, so she was dressed all in red and purple. Make note that this transaction took place around 2 p.m. That will matter later in this story.

After returning from traipsing over two counties, it was freshen up and change time. Then off to the library. This lovely flower arrangement from high school friend Kim and her mom, Tammy, who has a floral shop in town, was waiting for me. Isn’t it pretty?

Kim wasn’t able to make the signing, but Tammy did. I probably hadn’t seen her in 20 years and she looked the same! Kind of like Kim does. I, um, do not look like I did on graduation night.

During the signing, my cousin, Debbie, told me she had stayed up until 1 in the morning to finish my latest Harlequin American, Her Very Own Family. To which I said, “Yes! I’ve done my job.”

After signing books and chatting with friends and family, I took Mom back home. Helen poked her head out her door and said she’d already finished reading Her Very Own Family and really liked it. It was about 7 or 7:30 p.m. at this point. She also said she was getting ready to go back inside and start reading my YA novel, Heartbreak River. Did I mention that Helen is cool?

I drove to a town about an hour away next to the interstate so I could just hop on I-24 in the morning and head farther north.

Illinois is tall. The next day, I got a bit of a late start but I was still able to cover most of the Illinois miles. I even got a totally out-of-the-blue story idea that I was excited to get down before I forgot it. I also saw the oddest thing — a police officer had someone pulled off to the side of the road (wasn’t the interstate at this point; I took a little scenic detour). When I came up alongside them, it was a team of mules pulling a covered wagon with “Jesus Saves” written on the canopy. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he was pulled over. I seriously doubt the mules were speeding.

In the northern part of the state, you start seeing wind farms with lots of enormous windmills like these. They’re oddly mesmerizing. If you’ve ever passed a truck on the interstate hauling just one of the blades for these things, you know how huge they are.

I also had a chuckle and had to take a picture at the rest area where I stopped at one point. It was called Willow Creek Rest Area. The original title for Her Very Own Family was The Willow Creek Cafe.

I stopped for the night in Rochelle, Illinois. I even got there early enough to go for a walk in the lovely, shaded neighborhood next to the hotel. Although I did get chilly. Remember the hot trek through all the cemeteries the day before? It had been about 90 degrees then. When I went for my walk to get out the driving kicks in Rochelle? 60 degrees.

Curious when I got back to my hotel, I logged on to Weather.com to check the temps in Wisconsin. When I saw they were going to be in the 40s at night and I’d only brought summer clothes, I e-mailed my agent and said, “I’m going to freeze to death!” Okay, obviously I didn’t since I’m typing this, but there were some shivering moments ahead. Come back for those moments and the rest of the story.

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