The Myth & The Majesty

Ah, the week is over. Well, the work week is over. Whatever. Decided to do some geocaching after work today ... Okay, backing up. I sprang for a handheld GPS receiver this past week, much to my excitement. A Garmin eTrex Legend to be more specific, found on super-sale to be most specific. And today I found my first Wisconsin cache, at the Isle. Next time, I need to remember bug spray. Especially if it's as hot as today. And especially if, like today, there was a massive thunderstorm the night before that left a lot of standing water. Yeah, wasn't very smart about that one. And then I met a friendly stranger in the park with a gorgeous, well-behaved, energetic golden retriever. Yay for random fun people! Tomorrow, fun people that are considerably less random ... I'm headed north, to the Superior/Duluth area, where I'll definitely be meeting up with one woman I went to Russia with (and hopefully at least two more) ... Yay! I'll have to tell you about it when I get bac

This is the first of what I hope will become an occasional series as I continue to find my way around town and the amusements therein. Oak Island & the Isle of Ferns If there is something that impresses me about Wausau, it’s the city’s park system. It’s possible that this is because I’m coming from a city that had one or two really good parks and a handful of scary ones, but I’ve been finding little hideaways and good walks all over the place. My favorite so far involves an island park. Oak Island is a riverside park with a playground, tennis courts, a half-pipe, picnic tables, plenty of trail-like sidewalk, etc. etc. Well-kept and clean, it’s what you generally expect from a park -- you can take the kids, have a picnic lunch, and throw a Frisbee without worrying too much about hitting someone. At one end there’s a bridge that leads to an entirely different kind of park. The Isle of Ferns is a natural history park that is accessible only by that single bridge or boat. Just after th

... or so it felt. Okay, so it's not tomorrow. It's not even the day after tomorrow. It's actually the day after the day after the day after tomorrow. It's been a busy week, okay? Here's my trip: Friday. Went to work early, worked through lunch, raced home hoping that the UPS guy hadn't already been through. Sighed with relief when he hadn't. Packed and cleaned until shortly after 5:00 when he got there, cheered when I opened the door (scared the poor guy a bit with my enthusiasm), and left about ten minutes later with my new Chacos. (Yeah, I finally caved and bought a pair ... Found them on super-sale online, and I'm quite happy about it now.) Sophie and I hit the road. Drove to Minneapolis, picked up my sister, and proceeded as far as Sioux Falls. We got in around 1:30AM on Saturday and I was unconscious shortly after 2AM. Saturday morning started with breakfast with a family friend. My mom, sister and I hit the road around 11 and stopped in Salem to

24 hours ago, I was in the parking garage at Mt. Rushmore. I have spent roughly 60% of the last 24 hours in a car. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, after I get some sleep.