The Windmill Posts

Of all of the numbers and funny quips about farms or whatever, the thing I want to comment on every day is one thing of beauty I enjoyed.   A thing of beauty.  It could be those kayakers, or my art on the rain fly on my tent.  But the thing that came to mind so strongly was the first 80 mph speed limit sign.  Go back and look at the warning message this morning.  Full circle!

I’m surrounded by old people.  On my right is an old couple and I overheard something about them day counting, so they’re likely on a long trip.  The couple on my left have been as quiet as if they turned the volume off.  I had dreams of one of my neighbors being these ridiculous old gay guys who could tell stories for days but preferred mine.  Not so close their drinking late into the night bothered me, but close enough that they rescued me.  I don’t have firewood, and even if I did what do I need?  Like, a 20 minute fire?  The whole campground seems to be a nursing home, but that makes sense.  No kids far enough out of school yet, and it’s a Sunday. It’s sooooo way out of my comfort zone, but if anyone invited me to their campfire, I’d go.  Not lonely or desperate, just wanting the camping experience. And I have to learn that people are nice.

Things are going well. As suspected, I’m tired from the day and will sleep like a rock.  I hope.  I have a bag of earplugs and if anyone complains I’ll throw a handful at them.  Nobody will mind though because they won’t have their hearing aids in, will be in a soundproofed RV, the RV generator will drown me out.

So we’ll just see how it goes.

Little Observations

• So many silent cars.
• I forget that our driftless area in Wisconsin isn’t the only one. Southern Minnesota let way to hills and clumps of trees and rivers and creeks and brooks, oh my!
• The number of people driving the speed limit are exponentially affecting my speed over the speed limit. We’re all chillin’.
• I forgot to bring a book. Had Hemingway’s short stories out and ready to go. Forgot it.
• Also forgot an RC I set aside in the fridge. And a grape gatorade. I need more beverages. It’s good to be hydrated, as well. I’ve had a couple times of “what happened to my mouth?”

Pictures

Internet connection is iffy no matter where you go remote.  I’m great at finding the dead zones.  So uploading photos is slow.  AI won’t enhance my picture.  I can’t upload an update because I’m camping so remote it’s on the edge of a Dark Sky Area.

So it’s quite likely you won’t get an update for a while, then get a handful all at once.  It doesn’t mean my car is hanging precariously off a cliff.  If I’ve shared my location with you and I’m on a cliff road, just go to street view and see that I’m not there.

I’ll try not to drone about this too many times.  But it’s important.  The last trip was about mileage and times and ETAs and crossing cities off lists.  Very .. military veteran of me.  This one is about the moment, being patient with now, and enjoying a view of three kayakers on the lake in the golden hour.  I’m not even going to take a picture.  It’s just mine.

So we’ll just see how it goes.

WordPress and the Google Photos connector decided to die on me. After 45 minutes talking with Gemini about it, I quit. So until the connector heals or I have time to fix it, you get word pictures. I’m literally about to hit publish and the images start working. Well, you get photos, word pictures, and captions today. And then I’m done and I’m behind by another post.

Imagine a moonwalk grey 2019 Mini Cooper Convertible.. It rests quietly on the right hand side of the picture. It’s facing the camera as if to say “Let’s go!” In the middle of the picture is a fire circle (without fire) and an impossibly comfortable chair that folds up into the smalled thing you’ve seen. And on the left, almost in the background, site an orange tent with a Stylized “Dulcinea” on the side. It looks like it would have taken quite a bit of time to create.

Home sweet home.  Next to all the giant RVs, Rocinante is tiny!  Tent felt tint, chair is tiny (but super comfortable).  I feel lucky to be on the lake and faced my door towards the water, I think it might be chilly tonight, I’m already cooling off.

Another shot closer to the fire circle. Still no fire. There will be no fire. On the right, the fire circle, empty of flame or ember. Because they sell wood across the highway and I was done driving for the day. On the left is a closer shot of the wonderful camp chair. In the middle of the photo is a picture of the tent with aforementioned logo – except this time the tent has been lit up by the setting sun, and appears to be on fire. There is no fire in the tent. Much like the fire circle

The sun hitting the tent just right, beautiful!

The interior of a tent. It is lit by a beam of the setting sun. The only things visible are sleeping bag pad, sleeping bag, and pillow. The pad is boring. The sleeping bag has a blue exterior and a red and back checked interior – flannel. Or at least something close enough to it that I can’t tell except for the lower price tag. The pillow is dark blue with constellations on it. It’s folded Marine Corps boot camp style, meaning the less than fluffy pillow is folder over once and then shoved in the pillowcase, which is tucked up toward the pillow. It creates a smaller but fluffier pillow out of what seemed like a thick piece of fabric. In this case, the pillow has also been connected to itself with zip ties that can’t be felt.

Another great shot only because the sun showed up.  Cushion and sleeping bag should keep my warm, especially later in the trip when I’m at altitude and its frosty!

You see what looks to be a common gym bag. Athletic shoes, spare shirt. Collection of pill bottles containing controlled substances.

This is my new invention and I think it’s going to be awesome!  It’s a bag with hygiene kit, PRN meds, daily meds for today and tomorrow, and tomorrow’s clothes.  No having to shuffle out in pjs to the car trunk and open the suitcase with the world’s loudest zip noise.  Today I will toss the empty pill container into the empty pill bag from yesterday, throw laundry in the laundry bag behind the driver’s side seat, and grab clothes for the next day.  I’m so excited to see how this works out.