Trippin' with Susan Straley

 Hello, A special shout out to the three guys that advised me through the purchase of my Ford Truck in May, Jim, Bill and Regis. On July 26th I drove East two hours to Freier's Truck Toppers in Appleton, WI, to get the topper put on the bed of Big Blue.  I had ordered the topper in May.  When I pulled into the parking lot, I could see the blue Leer topper already waiting in the garage for me. They found a place for me to sit and wait and plug in my computer.  The chair they gave me was damp, and the inside of the shelter was covered in old spider webs.    I didn't care!  I had more than one line of cell service! I turned on my computer and started to check email and upload a picture or two to this blog.   The owner had told me on the phone the process would take two hours.  But I just got done checking email and my bank account and I had just begun to write to you and bam!  They were done! Dang!  I had been looking forward to spending some time with net access!   After paying a

 Hello from the Boulder Junction, WI Library and my sister's diningroom table, Thank you for the free WIFI, and recharging station, Boulder Junction and Seester Mary! *** Don't you think it is interesting the connections we make while traveling.  Or even in our hometowns, the  brief interactions that enrich our lives.  It is like the good wishes, prayers, and love in our lives is attracting to us just the people and and stories that will help us, or somehow become part of our journey. There was a saying on a Dove Dark Chocolate wrapper that read:  Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe. I like that.   When I left the Fairgrounds in Chippewa Falls I drove to the KOA in Hayward, WI.  It wasn't far. I was attending a Wisconsin area Sisters on the Fly (SOTF) event.  SOTF is a membership organization that is nation-wide.  It started in Texas when a few women decided to start camping and learning Fly Fishing (hence the name). Now there are over ... I don't know, 18,000 members? I arri

 Greetings, still from the boonies in Northern Wisconsin, During this trip I have had the opportunity to connect with two men that have been recently widowed.  Connect in that we text each other almost daily.  It is a way of knowing that someone knows what we are doing and is interested.  I have felt that since I have been on my own for over four years now, I have some wisdom I can share about the grieving process and about the transition from a two-person household to a one-person household. I already wrote to you about Terry, who texted me he was having a beer in Gatlinburg so I rushed to get to a pub myself so I could have a beer too and it would be like having happy hour together.   I should arrange more of those with friends.  Sometimes it works out well, we can exchange pictures of our venues, the food, and stories. The other friend that I am texting regularly is Steve.  His wife passed suddenly and recently.  So his journey into grief and through grief is different than mine or

Greetings from the North North Woods of Wisconsin. It has been a while.  My last letter to you was June 20th.  In the meantime I have been either busy having fun or in locations were the cell service is poor or non-existent.   This morning while doing laundry I sat in a little kids' chair using the wifi there to check email and do some shopping.  Not smart to use a public WIFI for shopping.  I will have to change some of my passwords the next time I have a secure connection.  Maybe at my sister's house on a visit to her in Rhinelander.  It is about a 40 minute drive from camp to her house. *** When last I wrote I was in Chippewa Falls about to connect with my friends, John and Sandy from the Waukesha area.  We became friends when I volunteers for Waukesha Literacy and Sandy worked there in the 1990s.   We had a great time.  And our time there was too short.  There was so much more to explore.  We rode the Old Abe Trails in both directions from our campsite. By the kiosks were s