Day One: 2014 Epic Summer Road Trip

Posting from:  Kalamazoo

Miles:  556

States:  MN, WI, IL, IN, MI

First Road Construction encountered:  2 blocks from home

First actual jam:  Eau Claire - Country Jam.  Just try to use the bathroom at the McDonalds.  

First "Are we there yet?":  89.2 miles

Second "Are we there yet?"  89.3 miles

I met with good friends last night and made a solemn promise not to sweat the small stuff.  And yet I found myself frantically peeling and cutting carrots at 6:00 am this morning because "dammit they were on my packing list and we're scheduled to eat them at 12:00 noon tomorrow."

Be proud of me, however, for not turning around in Menomonie when I realized I forgot to pack the string cheese.

We left around 8:30 after loading an impossible amount of gear into our new car-top carrier and the way-back.  I said a tearful goodbye to my excellent coffee maker and mentally prepared myself for hotel drip-coffee and a plastic camping cold-press for the next 18 days.   

The drive was long and uneventful.  We had a wonderful lunch with Paul at the Blue Plate Diner in Madison.  Awesome food and the perfect half-way resting stop.

Our navigator promised a Kalamazoo arrival time of 9:00 pm.  Then in the blink of an eye, we crossed the time zone and bam: 10:00 pm.  Danny refused to believe we were suddenly an hour later than we were seconds ago.  He said it was impossible because the car dash still said 8:55.  So I changed the hour and I have to say: I really blew his mind.

I'm writing this from possibly the dumpiest dump of a hotel we've ever stayed at.

 

It's a bit disconcerting when the front office has a door, but also the little metal grate, slidey window thing to process payments without actually making human contact.  We're parked under a light, as far away from the abandoned apartment building with the broken windows next door.  But we're here and there are two beds and I'm pretty sure the bed bugs I'm feeling crawling up my legs are all in my head and it was $55 flat.  No hotel tax, no tax of any kind.

I can't wait to see what's available for our complimentary breakfast!

The only other spot of danger encountered today was at our fueling stop.  I had to snap a picture of the gas station attendant taking a smoke break 10 feet from the pumps.

 

There's little danger of oversleeping tomorrow.  We hope to leave around 8:00 am and make it to camp with plenty of time to set up and eat and head to fireworks over Niagara Falls.

Oh yeah, one other thing that didn't get done:  Baths!