1,302 miles-but who’s counting
I am pretty much of a homebody by choice. The only times I ventured to travel was to visit my daughter and family in their moves.
This past week was different. I drove over a thousand miles for different reasons. Usually I would dread the thought. But I must say most of those miles were enjoyable.
Half of the miles traveled were for work. One trip was with my granddaughter, Jade, who was my work partner during the summer. Now that she is back in college, she can only work with me occasionally. I miss her. To me, those miles traveled are not to audit a store. They are miles to get caught up on what is going on in her life, and to have lunch at Cousin’s in Beaver Dam. .(I try not to talk too much or ask too many questions. Sometimes I succeed.)
Three hundred of my work miles were in one day, auditing stores, traveling alone. Stoughton was the first stop. Then McFarland on the way to the east and west sides of Madison. I found DeForest past the airport. I didn’t realize it was just a hop and skip to Sun Prairie.
From there I went to Columbus. I asked the best way to get to Watertown. The manager of the store directed me back to highway 19 and said I would go through Waterloo and then Watertown. I did get to Watertown, but missed Waterloo somewhere along the way.
I was in familiar territory then and breezed to Fort Atkinson, and finally home. I don’t read maps. I was pretty proud of myself. Besides losing Waterloo, I was right on and did not get lost.
Going through all those small towns at 25 mph could have been irritating. But I was not in a hurry and decided to enjoy the first day of fall and the scenery. (Keeping my eye on the road, of course.)
Going do slowly, I was able to see the personality of the towns. Every town had old homes, most of them lovely and well-kept. There are so many things close to home that I didn’t know were there,
I didn’t know Marshall had an amusement park, or Watertown had an octagon house, or a Baptist College in the countryside. Or–the best ice cream I have had in years. You have to have a treat when you are on the road.
The other half of my travel miles were to Minneapolis to see my grandson play football for his Junior Tackle League. Kelly, Doug and Sam, are settled in Minnesota after so many moves.
It ended up being a family reunion of sorts, as Ted and Tracy were able to come with me. The only damper was Deb and Jade could not make the trip this time.
I did the driving. It is a straight shot to Minnesota. No fear of getting lost. It is interstate all the way, yet plenty of scenery. Beautiful. The leaves are starting to turn. If you looked hard, you could imagine the Indians standing on the old rock formations by Camp Douglas. Awesome.
I love Wisconsin. I left Illinois without regret to move to the cottage. But if there was no Wisconsin, I would opt for Minnesota.
The air is full of the fresh smell of the ten thousand lakes, it looks like Wisconsin, and I get to see Sam play football.
Whether I travel fifty or five hundred miles, I am always happy to get home. When all is said and done, all I need is the lake, and my family.
There is nothing I saw that Cambridge and the lake do not offer. From a quilt show to a horse pull, to a movie in the park, it’s right here at home. The octagon house has nothing over the old Cambridge schoolhouse. And for me, only three miles away.
The best time to travel, I think, is in the fall. It is also the best time for soups, stews, and chilies. Get ready for a lot of soup recipes.
This week-end after all the traveling, nothing would do but pot of soup. I ended up making my own concoction and using a little from each. I guess I’ll call it
Shirley’s Soup
you will need:
2 quarts chicken broth*
(Make broth. Cook one whole breast with skin and bones. Drain broth and add 3-4 T of soup base. Remove skin and bone and cube chicken.)
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
Peel and dice the following veggies:
1 sweet potato, one half squash, (I used butternut ) 2 white potatoes, one small onion one celery stalk 2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
hot sauce, optional
Simmer all veggies in broth, about 15 minutes, not cooking too long. You don’t want mush.
Add the chicken
Serve with hot sauce and biscuits Enjoy.
*You can use canned broth and skinned chicken breast. Then cube the breast raw and add to the soup.