On Monday we left the country and headed into Madison for the last two days of the trip. We went there to visit Tammy’s best friend Cande. While Tammy was in the hospital, Cande and I also became very close and we are now very good friends. She has helped me through some rough days and I’ve helped her through a few too.

So here are some pictures from Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. For more info on the capital building check out this aticle on Wikipedia: Wisconsin State Capital

Madison sits between two good sized lakes, Lake Mendota to the north-west and Lake Monona to the south-east. Cande lives on the north-east side of Lake Monona right on the lake. You can look across the lake and see the capital from her yard. These next pictures were taken there.

It’s to bad that it was windy both nights we were there. Cande said that the refection of the lights is beautiful on a calm night.
I’ve got one more set of pictures for you guys that I’ll put up in a couple of days.

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Like I said in the last post, we took a trip over to Pikes Peak State Park near the towns of McGregor and Marquette, Iowa.

Here are the pictures from this trip.

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It’s funny how on a long trip things will happen that make you feel that home isn’t very far away. This happened to me three time on my recent trip.

While in Blue River we went and visited an old friend of Sam’s family. Her name is Tina and she’s 91 years old. She was the best friend of Sam’s mother. We were in her home talking when I noticed a calendar hanging on her wall. It was a calendar from one of the local businesses in the area but it was the picture that caught my eye. It was Lake Mary and the Mammoth Crest. I pointed it out to Sam and we had a laugh over it. First full day in Wisconsin and there’s the Eastern Sierra right in front of me.

On our second day in Wisconsin we took a 30 - 40 mile drive over to Marquette Iowa to Pikes Peak State Park. The park sits on a high ridge that overlooks where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi River. It is a really beautiful place. While there I went over to the snack bar to get a soda and I got a refrigerator magnet for my mom. The magnet had a Bald Eagle on it and I started talking to the man working there about the Bald Eagles in the area. While we were talking I mentioned that I was from California and he asked where at. I told him Eastern California in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. He nodded his head like he knew where it was and then he then told me that he was born and raised in LA. I asked him if he knew where Bishop was and he said that he spent his honeymoon in Bishop with his first wife.

The next day we went to Madison and were walking around the state capital. Cande was taking me into the stores that she knew Tammy wanted me to see. One of then is called Sunshine Daydream, it’s a Grateful Dead hippie kind of a store. I got a couple things in there and Cande and I were talking to the girl working there. We were telling her about Tammy and how I had just driven from California and everything. Well the girl ask where in California and once again I said Eastern California in a little town called Bishop. She smiles and says that she knows Bishop and that she’s originally from Orange County.

And I just thought of one more thing, the good ol’ Alabama Hills showing up on a commercial during the football game.

It just goes to show, you’re never far from home.

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I’ve decided to break up the trip pictures into a few different post. I have over 125 of them. That will make it easier for me to post them and it won’t overwhelm you guys. So here is the first set. These are all from south-western Wisconsin in the area where Tammy’s mom Sam grew up and where Tammy was born. Towns in this area include Fennimore, Boscobel, and Blue River. They are all in the drainage of the Wisconsin River.

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A quick story about the cows. They were all laying down up on this hill. I walked up to them and they all stood up.
What’s the first thing a cow does when she stands up after relaxing?
I started hearing plop, plop, plop, plop, plop………
Yep, she poops.
After cracking up I got three quick pictures of them before they had enough and walked away.
And I swear I heard giggling as I walked back to the truck.

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