Thursday, July 3, 2008

Day 30 — Wisconsin to Sodus, MI

I got up in a great mood.  Beautiful day.  The Pride of America campground was pretty impressive!  Took a shower, got dressed, and took off.  Not much traffic on the detour.  The detour lasted another 15 miles or so.  Then I94 east to Milwaukee where mom and dad lived for many years.  Familiar territory to me.  Decided to stay on I94 through Chicago and then take the skyway and catch I94 again further east.  From Milwaukee, Wis through Chicago, Ill to Michigan was pretty clear sailing despite construction in Chicago.  The timing was right.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig (Blade Runner flashback) by late afternoon.  Buffy (the dog) estatic to see me again (or a REALLY good imitation of welcome back!).  Tori (the cat) just anxious to get back into the house again–and be fed, like she was starving—NOT.
It was a great trip!!!  Thanks for coming along.  Sorry it took so long to finish the blog.
Wil

Posted by Wil at 20:34:18 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Day 28 — Lake Elmo MN to Wisconsin

Wes (Diane’s husband) had to leave early to catch a plane.  Di went back to bed (having caught a miserable cold) and other party participants slept in.  I read a bit then fixed breakfast for everyone.  Diane’s dad left about noon to meet a friend and visit a train exhibit (did I mention he is an avid train enthusiast?).  I got myself together an bid good-bye in the early afternoon.  I’ll probably see Katie in about a month as she and her boyfriend are coming to Kazoo in a few weeks.  Then the family will come before the start of school to get Katie settled in at Kalamazoo College.  It’ll be nice to be close as a backup.
We I hit the Wisconsin line there was a notice that I94/I90 was closed near the Wisconsin Dells, a popular tourist place.  A dam that contained a lake associated with the dells had collapsed due to the heavy rains and flooding apparently damaging the interstate highways that passed nearby on the westerly side of the dells.  So I took an alternate route to the east and headed south on I39 not realizing that the I94/I90 detour merged with an I39 detour just south of Wisconsin Dells.  I was able to go 3 miles in 3.5 hours before reaching the detour.  Traffic was horrible as weekend vacationers headed back home toward Madison.  Seeing a sign for camping and being frustrated I stopped at a Pride of America campground for the night.  It was a prudent thing to do. 

Posted by Wil at 20:20:42 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Day 27 — Lake Elmo, MN

A great day for a party!!!  And a little time off.  The weather was sunny and comfortable–even balmy.  Some of the family took off for Taylor’s (Katie’s younger brother) soccer game after breakfast.  The Sly home is on a lake and the back yard leads down to its edge.  I spent time in a swing facing the water and watched snowy egrets fish and fight for territory and 3 families of Canadian geese travel to “my” end of the lake to feed.  Up the hill behind me preparations were ongoing for the anticipated party.  By the time I gave up the swing, platters of fruit, pita bread, gyro meat and fixings plus salads etc were arranged.  Pretty good timing.
The party itself was really nice.  A mixture of adults and young people.  Apparently several grads were having parties today.  By evening the front yard was full of young people playing soccer (sort of), throwing frisbees, sitting around and talking.  The adults didn’t get to far away from the food area.  As predicted, the weather began to change and by late evening a tornado warning was posted.  For awhile the wind blew and it rained hard.  The good thing was that bad weather had been predicted for the day but held off until the party goers had had the chance to party hardy.  The rain, lightning, thunder and wind brought the day to a close.
Posted by Wil at 20:01:06 | Permalink | Comments (2)