Plan B

Woke up early this morning with an inspiration. Since my nephew and his wife wouldn't be able to make it down to Brookfield, there was no compelling reason for me to walk through the house today. I still have Sunday and Monday, and even if we have snow, it's just a short trip from the motel to the house. Easy peasy.

Whereas, if I got on the road early enough, I could be at the farm by lunchtime, visit with my mom for a few hours, and drive back to Milwaukee ahead of the storm. 

My brain being what it is, it spun in circles while I had breakfast, still not sure it was a good idea, but I figured, What the heck? And at quarter to eight, I was in the car.

Texted my sister-in-law and called my mom from a rest area near Mauston, got there in time to have lunch with my brother--homemade smoked sausage!--spend a couple of hours visiting with Mom, go with them to 4:00 Mass, and made it back to Brookfield at about 9 pm. Caught some snow flurries around Waupaca, and a bit heavier snow below Oshkosh,  but the pavement was dry and clear, visibility fine, and I just beat the storm to Brookfield.

Navigation

Denise and I have a Garmin satellite navigator that we bought for shows, and I'd brought it along, because no matter how new the rental car, they never have the software installed. And more than once, Google gave me directions after the exit.

Coming from the airport yesterday, both of them let me down. At first, I couldn't find the charging plug for the Garmin (turned out it was in the central column glove box, between the seats). Fired up Google Maps, and it couldn't find GPS. Finally went on dead reckoning north up the freeway until I could find an exit, parked in a Wendy's lot and found the plug. Garmin battery was super low, but kept alive long enough to get me to the hotel. But for some reason, the battery wasn't charging, so this morning, it didn't start at all.

So I programmed the phone, hit "Start" (I think I hit "Directions" yesterday) and Google took me on a wild ride through parts of Wisconsin I'd never seen before. I-94 to Mauston, sure, familiar, but then it to me off on state road 80 through Necedah toward Marshfield, and just when I though I knew where I was, it turned off on county highway X. (County roads in Wisconsin are lettered, not numbered,  which leads to some funny signs. Sadly, I reached the intersection of county H, O and G from the wrong direction; GOH isn't nearly as photo-worthy.) Finally, after some twists and turns and astonishingly bad black top, I debouched onto US 73, which was at least familiar. Gassed up in Neillsville, took US 10 to county G, at which point Google lost the signal, kept repeating Turn right on County Road G. But by then I was on home turf so finished the trip from memory.

Leaving from Willard heading back, it took me on a totally different route. Went the other direction on county G, picked H and B and BB to once again not quite go through Marshfield. Connected with US 10, which runs east across much of the state, then southeast down the Fox River valley, and somewhere beyond Steven's Point, my phone shut down. Battery was dead.

Reader, I had no idea where I was. Garmin was still dead. It was not long until dark, there was a snowstorm coming, and I was, basically, f---ked. The only good thing about the situation was that this particular part of highway 10 was a commercial strip, where I might, conceivably, find a charging cord.

I pulled off into a parking lot where stood, cheek by jowl, a Goodwill and a Harbour Freight. Mentally flipped a coin, went into Goodwill.

I used the bathroom first--I'd been on the backroads a while--then checked out the offerings. No computer section, unlike the Delta Highway Goodwill in Eugene. Lots of USB-chargeable gadgets in the appliances, but all hardwired, mostly old-style.

Went up to checkout, made sad eyes at the staffer. Do you have USB charging cables? My phone died in the middle of giving me directions to Milwaukee.

She asked me what kind--USB-C--then led me back to a display of cutesy chargers, plug decked out as a gift box, cable with a bow. Mini USB-C plugs on both ends. Bought it, took it to the car which, being new and fancy, did in fact have only mini ports. Started the car, plugged the phone in, and it immediately began to charge. So I went back in, thanked the clerk and told her it was working. Restarted the phone on 4% charge, and drove the rest of the back to the motel.

Things you can see, driving through rural Wisconsin

Many roadkill raccoons. Two roadkill turkeys. No deer, however. A whole flock of live turkeys, digging through the understory of a small woods. (I also saw a dead red squirrel in the middle of US 73 as I turned onto the road, but as I didn't have a plastic bag, I wasn't able to take him home to make paint brushes.)

Several redtail hawks. A kestrel. A Snowy Owl, flying across the road just beyond my mother's driveway (She says there's actually two of them). Several Canada geese, pairing off a bit early for the season (and if you're used to seeing Cackling Geese out in Oregon, the Mammoth variety is a revelation. Those guys are big. As was the bald eagle, swooping low over a creek beside the road.)

Eastern Blue Jay.  Such pretty birds.

An entire woodlot festooned with a cats-cradle of sky-blue piping--collecting sap for maple syrup.

The derelict hood and windshield of a snowmobile, perched on a snowbank on the shoulder of the road.

An Amish farmer and his two sons, driving a two-horse hitch down the highway pulling a rig designed to carry a big round hay bale. The new and the old in collaboration.