This day started out great and ended great, but the middle part was highly questionable in my mind. I started out at the furthest western point of Wisconsin on the I90 and made my way east. The plan being to get to the township of La Crosse to camp. However, I had another flat tire (the rear passenger side this time) and of course the resulting delays. Ground control, i.e. Randy, called ahead to La Crosse to set me up with a tire dealership who could outfit me with two new rear tires on very short notice on a Friday evening. Chaos ensued as I made my way via phone directions to the store, but everything went amazingly well all things considered. (Thanks to Randy for this else I’d have been stuck until Monday morning.)
But this was not the end of my day. I figured out albeit painfully how to get to the Goose Lake Campground which is just south of La Crosse and signed myself away to a night of fun and campfires lol. Half the fun of camping though is the campfire so I was determined to have one even though it was raining and they were predicting storms overnight. So, thinking I was being quite clever I packed the logs onto the top of my car, on top of the kayaks actually so I could make my way to site #61. Half way there one of the logs fell onto the windshield of my car shattering one corner. This was a particularly duh moment and I spent the next hour berating myself for being so incredibly thick headed. But I did feel good about getting the fire going with wet hardwood.
A shower, that’s the ticket to feeling better as it is so hot and sticky here, so I collect three quarters so I can cleanse myself body and soul....so to speak. All set to climb in and get wet only to discover I’ve brought three Canadian quarters that won’t work in the machine. I have one tiny, lonely little American dime to cover the cost. )(*&%^&%*$^$*&^(*^&%) I had a total of two minutes to shower. I planned the maneuvers all out in advance to save time and did amazingly well but I didn’t quite get it all covered lol. I was in the shower cursing under my breath and feeling very sorry for myself when Mr. Finnigan snuck his nose up from under the next stall to see what was wrong. I burst out laughing - how could I not. Silly creature! Totally love that dog.
As the evening progressed I realized the windshield could be replaced, I didn’t get creamed on the highway as I could have and I was in this amazing place that I never thought I would ever see, enjoying the company of a charming lady Linda, who had offered me quarters for the shower earlier but had turned down. I was able to take incredible pictures of the sunset on the Mississippi River with some fishermen in the foreground to make things complete. Did I mention there are a LOT of mosquitoes here - yuk.
I am thinking that I could make a calendar and use it to provide me with another source of funding over the fall months at school. Any thoughts on this? I could sell them at conferences and other places to cover costs. Let me know what you think. I would appreciate some feedback on this. All in all I had a great day.
Note: Thanks to Anne Marie for letting me know that is was President's Washington and Madison that I wasn't able to recall from the Mount Rushmore group.
Next stop: Devils Lake, Wisconsin
Daily Distance: 587 kilometers
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