Awake: 6:19am Temp 60 sleep 7+00 sunny elevation 974 ft
overnight @ De Forest, WI.
We leave the KOA campground @ 9:22am. It’s a short drive on Interstate 94
& hwy 26 to the town of Watertown. As we approach our destination, Kathy
calls Larry on the cell phone to confirm final landmarks: “go past the
Wal-Mart on your right, look for the “Kwik Trip” gas station up ahead &
make a left turn across from that, then go to the top of the hill & turn
right. I’ll be there to lead you in” says Larry. Our GPS had the routing
slightly different which would have made entry into their driveway most
difficult so we were glad to have Larry’s assistance. Sure enough, as we
crested that hill, there was Larry to lead us in. Once in the initial
driveway (shared by (2) other families), Larry stops, greets us & suggests
that we un-hook our Suzuki & plan our maneuvering into their section of
driveway which made a 90 degree turn to the right.
I was glad for the extra set of eyes. We agreed to a back-in parking
method to be in front of his garage, which meant pulling into a neighbor’s
driveway & maneuvering around some closely planted trees, then following
the curved driveway to their house.
Once parked, Larry brings out a drill, makes a few holes through the wall
to their former exercise room, then uses the Saws-all to cut a square hole
slightly larger than my 50 amp plug. I reeled out our shore cable, stuck
the plug through that square hole & Larry plugs it into the 50 amp outlet,
formerly used for their Jacuzzi. It took maybe 20 min & we have a
comfortable campground setup. Out of many invitations to park in peoples’
driveways for the night or a few days, this is the 1st time we accepted an
invitation to do so.
Larry’s wife, Sallie, comes out to greet us, and then we are invited to
sit down & catch up on: “what’s new?” in their screened-in back porch
with a 20 ft high ceiling with fan. This setting was great: a near
wilderness feeling, an in-ground swimming pool just beyond the outside
deck & peering through some trees, one can see the famous Rock River that
winds 3 or 4 times throughout the city of Watertown. “Very comfortable” I
thought to myself. Then someone mentioned: we have mosquitoes & flies &
they are in here. Kathy speaks up: “you don’t own a “Bug Zapper?” On that
note she disappears for a few minutes & then re-appears with bug zapper in
hand. She taught Larry & Sallie the scientific process of using this
electrifying gadget & as they say, the rest is history.
After a casual tour of their spacious, unique & beautiful home, we hop in
their Honda Odyssey auto to have coffee & lunch @ the new Berres Brothers
Coffee Roasters a mere 7 min away. Kathy & I share an Ahi tuna salad.
Mid afternoon: Larry invites us to join him on a trip to see the Bike
Doctor (Tom) in the town of Dousman. He brings along (2) road bikes in the
back of the Odyssey to be fitted to his physique for better posture &
healthier cycling. It was quite interesting to watch this Bike Doctor take
intricate measurements, then change the handle bar setting, seat height &
distance setting & measure Larry’s leg angle while stopped, etc. During
the final process, we listened to Larry say things like: “I’ve never felt
so comfortable before on this bike; my back is relaxed, etc, etc.
Obviously this was the right place & thing to do for Larry’s road bike
excursions.
@ approx 7:30, dinner is ready @ the back deck. Larry grilled hamburgers;
Sallie provided the buns and condiments for the burgers plus salad, Kosher
hot dogs, & spaghetti. It was a lovely evening but we were ready with our
bug zappers just in case; the bugs must have sensed this as they stayed
away for quite a long time and then we decided to retire to the inside of
the house.
Later this evening, Sallie & Larry demonstrate the system they use with
DirecTV to record, playback, & while watching a live program, one can even
back-up to see or hear what one needs repeated; a neat idea which we may
look into sometime.
During this time, Sallie’s brother, Bruce, & his older son, Jeremiah,
visit for a short time. They live just across the field belonging to the
1st left driveway of the three forks. They were curious about our
home-on-wheels so I hinted: “Tomorrow!”
High temp=? Lights out: 11:20pm
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