catfish

ok I do know it is the first day of october, man where does the time go? I made tyhe train in time but the last 8-10 miles was in the dark under my lights. Of course the station was closed cause the eastbound takes off at 2 am so i got some dinner and came back and waited outside. It was not cold or anything so it was ok. I kinda hit the jackpot on the coffie machine. I put in a dollar bill for a 50 cent coffie got the coffie and 4 quarters back i thought it must be some kind of test so i put 2 back in and hit the button for another coffie and this time got 4 more quarters back i figured i was on candid camra or something.

the ticket guy came at midnight i got the bike box and everything went good I had 2 seats to myself and tryed to stretchout a bit and sleep. We pulled into La Crosse and right in the middle of the hudge annual octoberfest celerbration so i put the bike together and gotinto the parade riding with my flag flying and right behind a cool jazz band on a float so i just waved and rode the parade till someone figured i wasnt part of it and then I took off twords trempalo and perot state park.

Got there about 4 pm or so the young girl was confused and didnt know what to charge me to camp She kept saying i"it usually goes by the liscense plate on your vehical" Finially i got he r to stick out her head from the little booth and showed her my bicycle she just diodnt ubnderstand what to do so i said ILL give you the state rate to tent camp 8 bucks and that was that.

There were manyothers in the park this weekend and it was noisy, cant figure why people escape the city and bring barking dogs screaming at each other playin loud music ect and miss out on all the wonderfull sounds of nature.

By the time i had eaten dinner and was getting dark it started to get cold i had on long underware and the fleese and a hat climbed into the sleeping bag and fell asleep. som,etime in the night it started to get warm i went out for nature call and saw this increditable sioght. the fog was very thick and a full moon was shining through almost surelistic , it got wearm enough to get out of the fleese.

next morning everything was so wet that it took till almost 10:30 to dry out enough to get moving, i hate to pack a wet tent cause it brings on mildew and it gets heavy sometimes i have no choice.

Took off and the sun was out, and was about 70=75 degrees slight tail wind made it 50 miles and found a place to camp infact this is the road i started on last year as i went west. so i camped where a year ago i had discarded some stuff and someone called the police and thought i got mugged or something.

I had some excitement I had a voice mail that someone wants to meet me someplace I was thinking it would be nice to have some company for a few days I looked at the map and saw that it could be a 3 day loop me on the bike him in the car. we could meet up at the days end and share a motel room price have dinner and visit and then again the next 2 days. at the junction of hy 8 and 51 Id go north and him south. When i called back it was clear it wouldnt work out i went to bed a littls disapointed but life goes on

today I want to make it to menomonee wisc. i am about half way and found a computer to check in . the weather report looks ruff in a cpoupla days a cold frount is comming from canada and maybe even snow up north.

I am headed twords eagle river whish me not to freeze

catfish

q

Danielle Foster

Hey Catfish!!!!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get in touch. I got your cell phone message, was listening to it while I was driving, then the message got deleted......

Anyway, made it back alive, and much delayed. It was a cool trip, but kinda ruined at the end due to the circumstances.

Haven't read all of your posts, but I did take a liking to the Octoberfest one!!! I did some cont. ed last weekend in Pennsyvania, and drove right into this beer fest in Latrobe (maker of Rolling Rock). I almost had a heart attack!!! But couldn't have any samples due to the fact that I had 3 hrs. to drive home.

Going to Milwaukee this weekend for cont. ed. The Wisconsin Athletic Club in Mes-a something.... Want me to say hi to your peeps?

I gotta go read up on you now my hero-boy. Hi from Gary too.

Love,
Danielle

catfish

Danielle man it is good to hear from you Thought Id lost you! anyway i know some of the folks at the w.a.c., so say hi to maybe some of them will be there( If I was in Milwaukee Id show you the sights day and night... ), tell them to check in here will ya? I am going to try to make it over to visit the Cheeze man in a week or so too bad we wont be in the same place at the same time, but I allways think about you.
C.F.

sue

Hey George

I'm really sorry that he just didn't get it. I don't understand. Sometimes just cant reason with him. 2 or 3 weeks from now he'll say he sould have gone. He would have enjoyed the colors. Thats something you don't experience in Florida. What can I say other than I'm really sorry for the disappointment. Hang in there You are doing great.

Love,
Sue

Gus Riley

Cat, what luck to land right in the middle of an Octoberfest!! A couple of cool ones might have been nice! I brew my own and always welcome the chance to taste some good brews. Have fun and be safe...hope the weather hold for you.

catfish

Sue:
like I said life goes on..... woke up the next day and with the great weather and colors the dissipointment dissapeared, it was a good idea but not every good idea becomes a reality. Its all good and for a reason!!

Bette

Hi Catfish(Bro)
So, your back in WI, enjoying the fall colors and weather. Sounds wonderful. I've been thinking about you every day and talk about you to all of my friends and co-workers, they all think you are awesome and really cool. They all want to meet you too. I am really fortunate to have such a great brother. You joining the parade sounded cool, I could picture you riding on your bike with all your stuff waving at everyone, it made me smile. Work has been crazy lately, commercial property insurance rates have gone sky high since all the attacks - it has made renewing policies and writing new ones a huge challenge. I try to relese my stress walking on my tread mill and letting the day's challenges make me smarter and wiser. Like you've been saying "Everything for a reason" Stay strong, Stay Safe and remember you have alot of people caring and thinking about you. Love, Bette
XXXOOO