Heather and I first "met" on Goodreads last summer, so I was very pleased when she invited me to call into her Chicago-area book club. (Fine. I invited myself. What do you want from me?)

This group had the first mother-daughter pair I've encountered - Claudine, Heather's mother, who told me "I've been married 100 years." (Really, she didn't sound like it had been a day over 99.) A few years ago, Claudine's husband decided they needed to do an RV trip (what is it with men and RVs?) and she said QUEEN OF THE ROAD gave her flashbacks. Sorry, Claudine. I really had hoped my book would have some medicinal effect: Laughter is the best medicine and all that. I had no idea it could induce PTSD. Maybe future additions should come with a prescription for Valium. (Hmm. Not a bad idea. New York Times Bestseller List here I come!)

Back row, from left to right: Trish, Lori, Janice, Christine, Terri. Front row, from left to right: Liz, Heather, Julia. (Claudine is suspiciously absent. I guess if I'd been married 100 years, I wouldn't want my picture taken, either. Although, I am a bit concerned our discussion induced one of those flashbacks, and Claudine was off somewhere screaming, thinking she was careening off the road in a big rig.)

Many of the gals had traveled all over the country (except for Alaska), so it was particularly nice to hear that the book made them want to explore some of the places they hadn't seen. (At least that's sort of therapeutic, right?)

A lot of the discussion centered around the changes our bus year brought into our lives, and how we've tried to maintain the new traditions and ways of living since our return. Like other clubs, these gals were also surprised to hear that the trip was so life-changing, we plan to fix up our house, sell it and live on the bus full-time. (Project Nerd is drywalling at this very moment.)

You do realize I'm not using the Royal We for once, right? ie Sir Tim is doing all the actual "fix up our house" stuff.

Silly me. Of course you do.