Near
Wheatland, Iowa, sits the 200-acre Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat.
It's roughly a 40-minute drive from the Quad Cities, and in one
approach a car will go from a four-lane highway to a two-lane road to
a dirt drive.
It's nearly a journey to the past, from the zipping traffic of modern times to a more primitive period, including an old farmhouse.
"Even the approach is a bit of calming, slowing down," said Sister Catherine Real, a retired member of the Davenport-based Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) who volunteers as co-director of Our Lady of the Prairie. The retreat, she said, offers "a sense of God's presence" just a short drive from the urban grind.