Still no intrigue, but some cows, canoes and the Kickapoo

It's not a trip to Italy, but it was pretty good nonetheless. Since Saturday, I've been in Wisconsin--Madison and then LaFarge. This trip marks the first flight I've taken totally by myself. I've flown with family and with friends, but never completely alone. To make this occasion even more significant, I was bumped up to first class for the first leg of the trip, from Albany to Detroit.

This short but wonderful trip also allowed me to get to know mIEKAL aND and camillE bacoS, who generously fed, sheltered and entertained us for several days. I had time to read Amy Tan's novel Saving Fish From Drowning, walk in the pretty darn remote and beautiful Wisconsin countryside, hear only the occasional sound of cows lowing at night, see horse-drawn wagons carrying the many Amish neighbors back and forth (as Geof reminded me: "You're related to all of them"), eat trout that had been swimming earlier that day, drink some excellent homemade red wine, visit the organic food company mIEKAL works for, talk to parrots, and paddle a canoe four miles down the Kickapoo River. All in all, not bad for a short visit.

Things went slightly downhill when we tried to drive back to the Madison airport and got lost enough so I missed my morning flight. Geof and I were already scheduled on different flights, but now we were both at the airport far sooner than we needed, especially for my new flight leaving at 6:02 p.m. His flight left at 2:00, so from about 10:30 until 1:30, we sat in a brew pub talking, eating, sharing a sampler of six okay beers, writing a bit and generally having a good time. When Geof left, I kept my seat for a bit longer, drinking a local Peck's Pilsener by myself and making hotel reservations for our trip to San Francisco in August.

As I waited for my flight, I shifted to coffee, had a snack and finally realized I had exhausted all the entertainment possibilities of the Dane County Regional Airport.

After two uneventful flights, I reached Albany to find the Wiles family waiting for Ted's luggage, Ted having just arrived from San Francisco to begin a job in Philadelphia. I had a good time talking with them, and Sharon luckily spotted Geof and my niece and nephew looking for me.

At home, my sister-in-law Kathy, and my other nephew, Jacob, were waiting. Everyone was tired, Kathy and the kids especially because they had driven through the previous night from Nashville, spent the day visiting Niagara Falls and then driven across the state to see us.

I think everyone was in bed by 1:30. As we should have been.