Day 17 - 7/31/99

Milton, WI

Wall, SD

Rex and Dodi Go Camping
or
Things to do in Wisconsin when you're Dry

     We arrived at the campground just in time.  We had been delayed by the fact that a highway marked on our map had secretly been replaced by a dirt road.
     "Hey, that's a dirt road," said Rex.
     "Wheeee," said Dodi!
     In order for there to still be people at the campground we had picked (The only one for 20 miles with sites still open) we had to make it by 10:30 - We were within 15 miles at 9:30, but 5 miles of dirt road slowed us considerably.   Originally out plan had been to get a spot and head back into town for food, but we decided that it would be easier to just grab a bite and head in.  We managed to catch Burger King just before it closed and ended up with the most nasty, watered down cokes ever.  Both of us were dragging our butts, because according to our internal clocks it as 11:00, not 10:00.
     We made it to the campground with only one wrong turning.   Rex went into the office and paid and we went to our assigned campsite.  There were no sites open with electricity, so we had to rough it.  We backed into the site and started to set up camp. 
     It was hot.  And Humid.  And there were bugs.  It was so hot that after moving around for only a few minutes we were both covered in a layer of sweat.  Rex attempted to update the web site only to discover that the modem would not stay connected.  We decided it would be too warm to sleep in the car, so we built up a makeshift tent using the back of the car, the mattress, the tripod, and the ice chest.  We ran a rope from one end of the open hatch to the tripod at the end of the mattress.  We then draped the sheets we had bought over the rope and another blanket over the top.  Quite a snug little tent.

     It was only 11:00 by the time we got to bed, so we set the alarm for 8, figuring we could get some good travel in the next day.  We settled down on top of the sleeping bag.  It was hot.  There was no breeze.  In about 30 seconds we were glued firmly to the sleeping bag by our sweat.  We tossed.  We turned.  One of us would get almost comfortable enough to nod off when some sort of bug would run across our legs waking us both up.  This happened at least four times in a row.  After about 2 hours Dodi somehow managed to drift off to sleep.  Rex was not so lucky.  Twist, turn, slap.  Get up, move around - it's just as hot outside as inside.  Drink some warm water, twist, turn, slap.  Dream about air conditioning.
     About 3 A.M. things changed.  There had been thunder and lighting going on in the distance for most of the night.  Now it became more frequent and louder.  It began to rain.  As quickly as we were able we threw everything cloth into the back of the car.  We left out the tripod, drop cloth, and mattress outside as the rain started to come down in torrents.  We slammed the back door and hopped into the front of the car, Dodi on the driver side, Rex on the passenger side.
     Now were were hot.  And stuffy.  And uncomfortable. And wet.  Even with the windows cracked (and rain dripping in) it was easily hotter then it had been outside.  Dodi, of course, drifted right off to sleep.  Rex eventually crawled in the back where he tossed and turned for an hour before drifting off to sleep.
     We slept through the alarm.

     Strangely enough, Rex woke refreshed and rested at 9:30, while Dodi, who had slept far more, still wanted to sleep.  We wrung out as much we could, knocked the mud off, packed up and headed out.  That pretty much wraps it up for camping.  It'll be a Best Western tonight.

     The matress had lots of water on it.  You can see how we used the ice chest as a counterweight on the tripod.  To the right is Rex's shirt, which somehow did not make it into the car.  Note the mud.  We put all the we stuff up top in the hopes that the hot days we've been having will cook it dry.

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