kennyj
Explorer
This blog/trip report has actually been a work in progress; as of the day I'm posting this I've been on the road for about a month. At first it was hard to find time to work on it, now that I am settling in to my travels it's easier to make time to write and edit the photos. I should get this caught up pretty quickly.
In recent years I've come to love the western states for so many reasons. I've lived in Illinois all my 60+ years, and in the town of Galena for 25 years, and while I've really loved living in such a unique and beautiful place, I wished i could spend more time traveling and exploring the west. Sometime this past winter I realized that there was never going to be a better time for me, that I could take off to travel and actually be a "full-timer". I decided on a date, May 1st, that I would be moved out of my house, be done with work, and leave Illinois to go exploring in my camper/van.
From the time I committed to this plan I only had a few months to get rid of unnecessary belongings, move what was left from my house into a tiny 5x10 storage locker, and get my van ready to be my new home. Finally, a house full of stuff was down to a few tiny piles and I was deciding what things I really needed to take with me.

Unfortunately, while I made my moving date of May 1st, weather had not been good for working on my van build and the van was far from ready to go traveling. I loaded up everything I thought I needed and headed 160 miles south to see my son and daughter-in-law, and to complete the van build.

For the next two weeks I worked my tail off to get the van ready. I focused on the work I wouldn't be able to do on the road, whatever was left to do would be a work in progress.
I had a really great time, got a lot of work done on the van, and enjoyed a spectacular day on the Illinois River on their boat.


We even had an unusual visit from a small plane that dropped by.

After two weeks I decided I was ready as I needed to be and it was time to head out; I would go back to Galena to repack the van and take care of some final business and goodbyes. My first stop was the storage unit where I sorted what items stayed and what would go. Then I drove out south of town where the Corps of Engineers has a camping area on the Mississippi River, this would be my first night in the newly built van. It was an absolute mess, everything was so disorganized.

I woke to a gorgeous morning on the (flooded) river and then spent at least an hour trying to find coffee fixins in the van. I still had a lot of work to do to get organized.

The mighty Mississippi River.

I spent another night in Galena behind a great old farmhouse.

I've been asked, what's your destination, and how long will you be gone? The answer to both is I don't know. People have asked me what will be the first place you go when you leave? Again the answer was I don't know. My only commitment is a family gathering in Oregon later in July, and by November I think I'll be deciding whether to head south for the winter.
I've always traveled west through Iowa and Nebraska, so I thought about taking a southern route for a change of scenery, but try as I might, I couldn't google up anything that interested me in traveling through Kansas or Oklahoma (other than pictures of tornados). Since I was back in Galena I just headed west across the Mississippi.
In recent years I've come to love the western states for so many reasons. I've lived in Illinois all my 60+ years, and in the town of Galena for 25 years, and while I've really loved living in such a unique and beautiful place, I wished i could spend more time traveling and exploring the west. Sometime this past winter I realized that there was never going to be a better time for me, that I could take off to travel and actually be a "full-timer". I decided on a date, May 1st, that I would be moved out of my house, be done with work, and leave Illinois to go exploring in my camper/van.
From the time I committed to this plan I only had a few months to get rid of unnecessary belongings, move what was left from my house into a tiny 5x10 storage locker, and get my van ready to be my new home. Finally, a house full of stuff was down to a few tiny piles and I was deciding what things I really needed to take with me.


Unfortunately, while I made my moving date of May 1st, weather had not been good for working on my van build and the van was far from ready to go traveling. I loaded up everything I thought I needed and headed 160 miles south to see my son and daughter-in-law, and to complete the van build.


For the next two weeks I worked my tail off to get the van ready. I focused on the work I wouldn't be able to do on the road, whatever was left to do would be a work in progress.
I had a really great time, got a lot of work done on the van, and enjoyed a spectacular day on the Illinois River on their boat.




We even had an unusual visit from a small plane that dropped by.


After two weeks I decided I was ready as I needed to be and it was time to head out; I would go back to Galena to repack the van and take care of some final business and goodbyes. My first stop was the storage unit where I sorted what items stayed and what would go. Then I drove out south of town where the Corps of Engineers has a camping area on the Mississippi River, this would be my first night in the newly built van. It was an absolute mess, everything was so disorganized.


I woke to a gorgeous morning on the (flooded) river and then spent at least an hour trying to find coffee fixins in the van. I still had a lot of work to do to get organized.


The mighty Mississippi River.


I spent another night in Galena behind a great old farmhouse.


I've been asked, what's your destination, and how long will you be gone? The answer to both is I don't know. People have asked me what will be the first place you go when you leave? Again the answer was I don't know. My only commitment is a family gathering in Oregon later in July, and by November I think I'll be deciding whether to head south for the winter.
I've always traveled west through Iowa and Nebraska, so I thought about taking a southern route for a change of scenery, but try as I might, I couldn't google up anything that interested me in traveling through Kansas or Oklahoma (other than pictures of tornados). Since I was back in Galena I just headed west across the Mississippi.
