From Bloomington to Madison, Wisconsin

Twas a short travelling day today, but a rough one. Ever try doing a road trip after a few days of R&R? it's tough. We were up by 7am this morning, and out the doors of the hotel by 8:30am. Both of us were completely exhausted and found it hard to focus on the trip ahead.

We took it slow, hitting up most of the rest stops and gas stations before stopping for food just outside of De Forest at the local Cracker Barrel. Had another delicious meal there, with great service, then scurried back to the car to continue our venture.

We made it to the KOA in De Forest, Wisconsin, just outside of Madison, where we grabbed our site and attempted pitching the tent. It's an extremely blustery day here, so the tent was a major challenge. It kept trying to blow away every time we would lay it out and try to put pegs in. We had one of the neighbouring tenters come over to help hold it down while we secured it to the ground. But even then, it keeps trying to pull out its pegs and escape. We've anchored it down now with multiple pegs, and heavy suitcases on the inside. Hopefully it won't try to fly away with us in it tonight, OR that the wind will die down. So it's been a lot of fun! Will make an interesting morning trying to take it down, looking forward to it!

The wind is a welcome change though as it is a toasty 86 degrees Fahrenheit / about 30 degrees Celsius. But with Hurricane force winds, and the shade on the campsite, it's a manageable 23-24 degrees Celsius.

Kim hit up the shower to cool down a bit, rather than jumping in the kiddie infested pool, she came out exclaiming, it's a good thing we're Canadian because we're used to cold water. The shower went from Cold, to Colder, to Frigid apparently. A good wake up.

The people here have been extremely friendly and helpful. It's an older couple who own the campground, and they maintain it very well. Smiling and waving as they ride by on the sit down mower, or striking up a friendly conversation at the small general store.

We have had a chance to watch the news too, and have heard about Hurricane Irene hitting the East Coast with major force. Saw they have started to evacuate coast cities and small islands in the hurricane's path. Mauvereen was excited and exclaimed "Way to Go Mom! Show 'em what it means to be an Irene!!"
We do hope that everyone will be ok through the storm.

Found we have plenty of insects tenting in the area with us, which led to Kim finding out that she is unforuntately allergic to bug spray. Good thing we brought Benadryl. What a way to find out, on the road, in a campsite, already bitten a few times.

Now it's off to find some grub, then curl up with a good book in the tent.

Tomorrow we will be up early again, heading for Goshen Indiana to visit Kim's Step-Grandma Ruth and her family. Should be a good visit.

Will update again soon!