20030912

September 12, 2003
Friday


Start:   Valley RV, Spring Green WI
End:     Viking Village RV Park, Stoughton WI
Miles:   57
Hi Temp: 82.9
Lo Temp: 68.4


We awoke at a leisurely time and walked a couple of hundred yards to a restaurant for breakfast.

Then we hooked up and left Spring Green. A few drips of moisture hit the windshield as we left town.

We drove east on US-14 to Middleton, then onto the south bypass around Madison on US-12. While on this route, at fairly high speed, a pickup came up next to us and yelled across that it sounded to him that we might have a bearing problem on the trailer. I stopped immediately; the left rear drum was warmest, but none of them were even what I'd call warm, let alone hot.  Nonetheless, it's something to keep an eye on.

We continued onto I-90/I-39 to the first exit (CTH "N") and drove south to the RV Park.  We had a few very light showers during this part of the day.

We self-registered in this unusual place (an old Lutheran orphanage with multiple buildings), then drove to the RV part (off to one side) and set up in an unoccupied site that was identified as open for grabs. Then the rain came, fairly heavily.  We took it easy for the afternoon, waiting for various things to happen.  Nobody came to collect money for staying; maybe they'll come around tomorrow. At a previously agreed to time, Dolores called her brother's house and agreed we'd call tomorrow to set the specifics of getting together.  I called my cousin Cynthia; she invited us to meet her and her friend Larry for dinner at Halvorson's not far away on Lake Kegonsa.

By now, the rain was fairly heavy at times.

We had a good dinner at Halvorson's. Three of us had pan-fried walleye, including both Dolores and I. We talked and talked and ate.  During dinner, we called her sister Lynn; she is off Monday and we agreed that I'd call as soon as we arrive in Lake Geneva. As we were taking care of the check, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, came in with a group to have dinner.

We invited Cynthia and Larry to the trailer for more chat; we all drove off and arrived at the trailer in inverse order without knowing how we did it.  We had another glass and chatted some more, finally agreeing to call at midday Sunday to see if we can meet again.

The evening news said between a half and one inch of rain fell - too little, too late for the crops but nice anyway.

They left, and we settled down.  I did some computer chores as we wound down.  It was a very nice evening.

20030913

September 13, 2003
Saturday


Start:   Viking Village CG & Resort, Stoughton WI
End:     same
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: 69.3
Lo Temp: 58.5


It rained during the night, something the local farmers need badly.  We slept in but finally got up and did things. At 12:30pm, we called Dolores's brother Joe and arranged to go to their house.

We drove into Madison and found their house without problem. We talked for a bit, then Rena brought out a laptop she bought yesterday and wondered if I could help network it with their desktop PC. This turned out to be a real furball.  The desktop was interfaced by ethernet to a router/firewall to a cable modem; it was running the Microsoft software firewall as well.  The laptop interfaced with the router/firewall by wireless 802.11b. I got the laptop to access the internet without problem, but couldn't get files & folders shared between the two machines.

We stopped for a while and talked some more. Then Rena started installing a virus scanner & aborted it in the middle.  Then the display on the laptop shifted to 640x480 centered in the middle of the screen.  Nothing we did after that could get the display resolution corrected.  They finally decided to return the machine to Circuit City and let them restore it or refund the money.

Then we drove out to the organic farm Joe co-manages west of Madison.  We drove through the farmland in the rain, chatting.  After we arrived, Joe checked the rain gage and found they'd received 3.25" yesterday and today (till 5:00). The members of the co-op farm were having a potluck pesto fest, which was ending as Joe gave us a tour of the farm and the barn where all the packaging is done. It's quite a setup. 

Joe grows flowers in the corners of the farm and sells them to local flower shops. He's very busy during the summer, working 14 to 16 hours a day. If it weren't raining hard today, we wouldn't have seen him.

We returned to their house for a spaghetti dinner with the kids. We talked some more. Finally we had to leave to get back to the campground (the gate closes at midnight). We got back to the trailer at 11:50, and went to bed immediately.

20030914                   Open new window with today’s pictures.

September 14, 2003
Sunday


Start:   Viking Village RV Park & Resort, Stoughton WI
End:     same
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: missed it
Lo Temp: missed it


We loafed until it was time to go to church. Then we went into Stoughton to St Ann's.

Afterward, we stopped at the Main Street Market for groceries and took them home.

I watched the Packers game out of one eye while doing things on the computer (the Pack won handily).  The rain stopped in the early afternoon and the blue sky came out.  The rest of the day was gorgeous.

I called Cynthia after a bit; she invited us out to dinner.  We got there and found Larry there, too.  We'd brought a bottle of wine, so we sipped that on the deck while watching Mollie the cocker spaniel and joking.

Cynthia made a meatless lasagna that was very good.  We made short work of that and the dessert. We chatted some more, then we left since they have to work the full week.

We got home and loafed some more and went to bed early.