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Hayward, WIAug 19, 2005
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Meeting Jim's animal stretch goal with a red deer.
| After the storm in Manistique, we were pretty happy to get out of Dodge. The morning we were leaving, we wandered up to the "rec room" to get some coffee, since all our stuff was either soaked or packed away. Turns out the campground we were staying at attracts more than its fair share of retired big rig drivers and auto industry workers. We got to talking to several of these folks over coffee, and when we told them what brought us there (short version is "we both got layed off and we're taking advantage of the time"), the universal first question back to us was, "do you think you're gonna get called back?" The assumption being that we worked in a factory and might well be called back to the production line. It really hit us how small our world view really is. Manufacturing lay-offs and call-backs is something we've read about in the news, but neither one of us knows anyone who has actually lived it. It was fascinating to hear the stories these folks had to tell. One effervescent gentleman who was there having coffee with his beautiful wife (she was in her sixties, with beautiful silver hair, lovely smile and generous personality) told us how he's got five more days on the job before his official retirement. After 43 years of driving a big rig for Meijer supermarkets, he has to go back and finish off those five days to get his benefits... Wisconsin was a waypoint on our journey to the "big city" (i.e., Minneapolis, MN) for some "scheduled maintenance" for both me and the Infiniti. We also had a chance to hook up with some dear friends who were going to be at their hunting cabin in Winter, WI that weekend. Hayward was a great place to stop for a few nights: it's sweet and actually has a population of greater than three digits while still having the trappings of our version of a perfect eclectic, modern village (e.g., a coffee bar/internet café). It's also a little remote: we saw a black bear running across the main drag in front of us one evening. It was here in Hayward that Jim finally made his animal stretch goal (well, most of it anyway). We visited the Wilderness Walk, which is apparently Wisconsin-ese for "zoo." It was actually very well done with a lot of open air and free roaming animals, and Jim saw bears, coyotes, foxes, red deer and other animals. All he has left to see is a moose! |
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