Day 31 - So long, Chicago, hello Wauwatosa

On this sunny morning, we found coffee at Ralph's, only to discover it was Ralph Lauren. We are not usually that toney, but the coffee was the best we had since leaving Louisville. Then it was fair thee well to our Route 66 tour. You were a great traveling companion, and we will almost miss you. The navigation at this point will be a lot easier - find I90 West and go. 

Our first stop was Wauwatosa, WI, to meet up with our Tucson neighbors, Bob and Carole Bonner. They live in a snappy new facility for seniors, where we joined them for lunch at the pub. 

After catching up on the past year's goings-on, we set off to Madison, or Mad City, as Carole calls it. The roads were crowded with campers, motor homes, boats and trailers getting out of town for the Memorial Day weekend. With more luck that foresight, we had made reservations in the hotel, so got settled in for some blogging and laundry.

Total mileage at the start of today: 4453. Today's mileage: 163.

Hurrah! We added to the license plate count - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

Still missing Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island and North Dakota.

One of Bob's favorite writers is Michael Perry. When we arrived at their home, there was one of Michael's books on the table. He is a funny man, describing himself as humorist, author, singer-songwriter, and snow-plower. He has a website that advises, 'do not stand behind a sneezing cow'. If you want to know more about him, try sneezingCow.com. He says it all started with Population 485, so that is what we recommend. 

We really thought we had a good song for today, Don Henley's Dirty Laundry, as it is our last time using a laundromat on the trip. However, we discovered the song Milwaukee, Here I Come by John Prine. It will make my brother Bill very happy. This version has John singing with Iris DeMent.

John Prine and Iris DeMent - Milwaukee Here I Come (Live From Sessions at West 54th) - YouTube