It seemed like along time coming… but it’s finally here!
Vacation!!! A week of biking & camping across the state of Wisconsin!

GRABAAWR : The GReat Annual Bicycle Adventure Along the Wisconsin River.

So today we traveled up to Eagle River, Wisconsin. Sounds easy, but a lot went into
getting me there on time! After finishing summer camp late Friday afternoon, I had to
clean up from camp, then get home to start packing and getting ready to be gone for a week.
And yes, I am one of those who feels that the place needs to be clean before you leave. So I
had a lot of chores, projects & laundry to do before I could even start packing. As the night
continued, I began to realize that I wasn’t going to get much sleep… if any.

Very early Saturday morning I drove to my friend Chris’s house in Elk Grove Village.
We packed up my car to drive us, our luggage and our bikes to the staging zone located in
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin… a good 4-1/2 hours away. And we needed to be there between
8:00-10:00am to get everything in the trucks and buses to get up to the Northwoods. So it was
a long, dark morning drive to Prairie du Chien – both of us quite tired. Luckily, we were able to
get some sleeping in on the bus ride north… despite the rain we were driving through!

Once we arrived in Eagle River, we checked in at registration and stowed away out stuff
into our tents. I called my friend, potter & fellow Art Detour artist Amy Higgason to join us
for dinner. Amy lives pretty close to Eagle River and she had coordinated an evening dinner
with her, and our friends Pam & Pat. Although I was still pretty tired, it was great to start
off my week’s vacation spending my first night in the Wisconsin Northwoods with friends!
And I tried not to pay too much attention to the rain that was pouring down outside…
gushing from the gutters… questioning if my tent was still dry inside?!!!