Hello Wisonsin!

Hooray for the Family Reunion in Madison, WI!  Madison was hot and sunny while we where there, perfect weather to get some lake time in!  The beginnings of a floating party while Rene and Rose tie up to our inflatable kayak.  Laka Monona with the state capitol in the background.

 

 We parked and camped at Lake Farm Park, just south of Madison's border.  This park was Beautiful.  Lakes and wide open spaces and bike trails.  We could bike into downtown from camp in less than 20 minutes.  The trails go through some picturesque fields, which were covered in fireflies at night when we rode home from the Memorial Union or State Street.

A couple more on the lake, as Jan and Dave wow us with their SUP skills and Rene and Noelle wait for the beers.

With such a big family reunion, it's tough to get all the stories in.  I spent a lot of time talking and not enough time taking pictures.  Some of the highlights: Finding Gary's old bar on State street sill in business.  Having our reunion merge parties with another family's wedding reception.  The Greenfields' lovely birthday/graduation gifts.  Jamie and Howard's awesome hosting.  The swarm of kid cousins meeting each other and forming a big posse.  Meeting 11 month old Cousin August and watching him try to figure out the whole standing up thing.

Prologue to the next post:  The Vanagon brakes acted a little funny one morning.  They quickly recovered, but it had us worried.  We searched out a Madison VW mechanic.  He said he didn't work on old Vanagons anymore.  He then went on a tangent about phish heads coming through town...  After learning about our journey and our trajectory, he recommended we stop by a mechanic in Ironwood, MI.  (Although he said Iron Mountain, MI, we figured out what he meant.)

With no pressing events, and longer daylight ahead, we head north... without any planned direction!