Madison

Next stop... Madison, Wisconsin. Getting to Madison took a few hours longer than expected due to the fact that we were unaware that Wisconsin doesn't number their roads but rather uses letters that did not coincide with our trusty Rand McNally. Around 9 pm we found the KOA that was nestled along the banks of the interstate and across the street from a McDonalds, Arby's, gas station and other usual highway exit necessities. The site ended up being perfectly adequate and the constant swishing of trucks on the highway served as great white noise. We set the alarm for 8, made our trusty oatmeal, packed up camp and were off to Madison. State street had a very similar feel to church street in Burlington, VT. Their was everyone from crunchy hippies, edgy hipsters, prep-sters and jocks which made for great people watching. The university of Wisconsin is a beautiful campus along the lake and at the end of hoppin' state street. We all were very impressed by the plethora of activities, shows and concerts scheduled for the students. Being in and around a college campus brought back some fond memories for all. We then went to MMoCA (contemporary art museum) which brought back a few too many college memories for some and was the perfect segway to getting back on the road.



State capital



Madison from above


MMoMA

It was then off to the twin cities. We had a camp sight planned out and about a 5 hour trip ahead of us. We stopped along the way to get the butter burger advertised at Culvers, a chain restaurant which seemed to have a monopoly on the entire state of Wisconsin. We were all pleasantly surprised and soon after completely culverised (serious food coma took over all). We got through the rest of the ride by reading Bossy Pants aloud to each other. We followed the directions down long empty country roads until we were at the end of a dead end with no sign of a camp sight and forget any sign of civilization at all. Even though our plan for the trip is to stay away from technology at all costs this was a desperate time that called for desperate measures. We looked up the camp sight on the trusty iPhone and felt relieved as is turned us around. Following the directions we were all looking forward to finally setting up camp until it directed us to a public park parking lot completely surrounded by tall grass and woods. Exhaustion was setting in and we were becoming more and more skeptical with the area and lack of humans. We all agreed, f**k it, were getting back on the highway. We decided we would cave and buy a room, we had been conscious of our spending and we could "splurge" just this one time. So we called and stopped at different hotels amazed every time they told us the best they could do was around $100, why so expensive? It was around midnight and the Country Inn was the last hotel off the exit. We were determined, with a little white lie and the sad truth that exhaustion had turned us into greasy red eyed creatures the lady behind the counter soon lowered her "lowest rate of $105 to $53 with tax."

We were ecstatic!!!!!! We could enter through the side door which would allow us to sneak in the other two members hiding in the car. Expecting the bare minimum we opened the door to a beautiful smoke free room with TWO queen beds! We had a comfy bed, running water, electricity, beds, down pillows, clean towels and a TV for only 20 dollars more than the price of a campsite. Oh boy were we shitting in high cotton!

Location:Madison, WI