Serendipity is so much better than route planning

Thursday, 24 July: I got going early today, and it's a good thing I did. The headwind picked up from a nuisance to a pain, and it was tough going. I kinda wanted to take the day off, but I hate doing that when I'm camping for free in a park, so I rode on. I still managed what I think was a fairly respectable distance, under the circumstances.

I got to highway 35, which is scenic. It reminded me a bit, in geography, of riding through the Columbia Gorge, but the vegetation was decidedly deciduous. At the junction of my lonely, pleasant county road and 35, I met a group of five cyclists from the twin cities who were on a two day jaunt through Wisconsin. We rode to a nearby rest stop (wayside rest, as they are called in this part of the country) and they gave me some good tips about bike trails in Wisconsin that I might take. They took off, and I chatted up some motorcyclists, also from the twin cities, who were out for a day ride. I rode on, and talked to the mayor of Maiden Rock, who was picking up trash on the road. I said something a while back about how litter-free the roads have been, but this was the first time I had actually seen someone picking up trash.

Later, the motorcyclists from the wayside rest, Jim and Judy, passed me up. They were waiting for me about a mile down the road, and asked me to dinner in the next town. Awesome! I met them up there, and they bought me beer and food. I was planning to go a bit further today, but decided maybe I should just camp out in this town. We had a good time talking. A guy named Harley Charlie (also originally from the twin cities, what the heck?! He and Jim and Judy knew some people in common) showed up to eat, and I invited him to join us. He was a pretty interesting guy, and he invited me to crash on his couch, which was about a block and a half away. A wise man recently told me "you're travelling! Always say yes!" so I did. We had some more good conversation back at his place, then I got a shower and camped out on the couch. Nice.