Since we started planning this trip John had said he wanted to visit the Field of Dreams movie site. We marked it on our huge wall calendar with a little pin and tucked away as a possible destination during this final week. We had no idea how we would be doing on time, but things were looking good so we pointed the RV in the direction of Dyersville, Iowa and started dreaming. Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to watch the movie with the kids beforehand, but it seemed like a good stopping point to break up the ride and being the baseball fanatic that he is, John was beyond excited.
After hours of driving through yet more fields of corn, we followed a series of signs pointing the way to the Field of Dreams and then all of a sudden, there it was, farmhouse and all. I'd only seen the movie once back when it was released so I wasn't prepared for the instant feeling of recognition that I had when the property came into view. The house, the corn fields, the baseball diamond: it all looked exactly as it had in the movie. The house is apparently a private residence, so you can't go into it, but you can walk onto the field, play on it, even explore the corn.
We were surprised by how popular a stop this was in the middle of the week. When we pulled up it seemed that there was already a whole baseball team set up on the field, taking turns pitching, catching, hitting. John and Jack found a spot at the back of the field and played some catch while Ella and I climbed the bleachers and just took in the view. Then of course we had to recreate the scene of the ghost players coming out of the corn with John and Jack playing the parts and me filming with the camcorder.
We checked out the souvenir shop and then hopped back into the RV to continue our trek out of Iowa, which when you drive all the way across it is a VERY long state.
As we approached the state line at Dubuque, John started talking about how his mother had gone to the convent there and how he wished we could see it. There was no way I was going to let John drive the RV right through Dubuque without seeing the place where his mother became a nun at the age of 18! (Long story) I immediately Googled it, saw that the convent was just a few miles off the interstate and off we went in search of John's family history.
We turned off the main road, followed the GPS lady's voice down narrow residential streets and up steep hills and finally reached our destination: the convent of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on top of a huge hill overlooking the Mississippi River. It was gorgeous up there. We managed to pull the RV over right in front of the building and we hopped out to take a few photos. We then drove a slow loop around the long circular driveway and looked up at the convent, taking in the fact that this was likely the same exact view John's mom had so many years ago. I was amazed at the tranquil beauty of the location in such a busy, industrious town. I could almost picture her enjoying the scenic vistas of the river and the bridge as young woman.
We drove back down the hill and across the Mississippi River for the second time in three weeks into the state of Illinois. Our drive through the western part of the state was very scenic. We drove through picturesque little towns, passed wineries and distilleries (lamenting the fact that we couldn't stop due to time constraints and logistics of parking the RV in the tiny parking lots), enjoyed vistas that finally consisted of more than just cornfields.
By the time we pulled into Glen Ellyn and into cousin Mike's driveway (actually, his neighbor's driveway who happened to be out of town), we were all exhausted and famished. The kids were excited to sleep in regular beds for the first time in weeks.
Next: Visiting family and missing my RV bed.
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