Off the water
With less than 40 miles to go to Portage (and the celebration we have planned this coming Sunday Aug. 29th) I needed to slow down before I reached town too soon. With time to burn I figured it’d be a good chance to get back up to my parent’s house in Wausau to re-group and, of course, enjoy some of my mom‘s cooking. These three days off gave me a chance to sort through my equipment boxes to find replacements for some of the gear that has begun to fall apart after months of use. In addition I had the opportunity to concentrate on plans for what is to come after reaching Portage. Plans are now coming together for a twelve day “closing the gap” run from Boscabel, WI to St. Louis, as well as the “long walk in the desert” that I’ve been telling people I’m looking forward to (after so much time on the water) when this trip is over.
Of course being home also gave me time to spend with family. On Tuesday my brother Luke asked my dad and I if we’d like to go fishing with him and his two sons. This wasn’t so much an invite to a day of fishing as a request for extra hands to help tie hooks an pull lines out of snags for the two energetic young fishermen. The outing was a success and the boys had a great time even taking home a few fish for dinner.
Wednesday had me running around taking care of non-trip errands such as new tires for my truck. I did finally have time to get out and visit my grandmother who will be turning 96 in October. I’m looking forward to being at her birthday party for the first time in ten years. Late in the day I took the opportunity to join a group of paddlers for an evening paddle here in Wausau. About nine of us put in at Schofield Park on the west side of town and enjoyed an hour on the water which took us down stream to the top of the whitewater course then back up and around some of the islands above Gilbert Park. It was a beautiful late summer evening and I had a great time meeting folks on what will once again be my home waters when I return from the end of the end of the trip next month.