Re: Going on another adventure
Our 6 day trip to Wisconsin probably won't qualify as the highlight of our year, but it wasn't a disaster, either.
We lost two of those days to my health. Fortunately I didn't have any sleep attacks on days with a lot of driving. I was prepared to pull over and nap if that happened, but we got in all 737 miles without a nap!
Coy was not functioning up to his current baseline. Looking back, I suspect it was the heat more than anything else. The friends we stayed with keep their home warmer than we do, and all the time we spent outdoors it was beastly hot. I'm looking forward to that cooling vest I've ordered for Coy.
We toured a brewery (of which Wisonsin has an abundance) mostly for nostalgia. We toured a local brewery on one of our early dates -- it was my turn to pick, and I needed something cheap! I was a little concerned when Coy was given 5 tickets for 5-ounce samples. He can have that much beer a day, but I didn't think it would be good to have it all at once, before lunch! Not to worry. He drank the first glass and pronounced it not as good as his current favorite. He only took a couple of swallows each of the second and third glasses, pronounced them inferior, and didn't use the other tickets. I like a man of discerning tastes, don't you?
We had an excellent lunch after the beer tour. I enjoy Coy's enthusiasm when he likes something. It was the best potato salad he has ever had.
We stayed one night in a motel and while I was walking ahead of Coy to get the door I heard a crash and a moan and turned to see him on the ground all bloody! Oh dear! A passerby pulled a patio chair over and helped me get Coy into it. It was hard to tell until I had cleaned him up a bit but all that blood was coming from a scrape on his forehead and he also scraped his elbow and knee. He didn't lose consciousness and seemed otherwise OK, so we got some bandaids from the desk clerk, cleaned him up better, and went out to dinner. I don't think this was a particularly Lewy fall. He was pulling a suitcase, it twisted going over a curb and he lost his balance. Coulda happened to anyone. Scary, though.
We saw two excellent plays in Spring Green. The costuming and action in
Taming of the Shrew held his interest. I didn't think he followed the more cerebreal
Blithe Spirit, but afterward he claimed he liked it. We've gone to American Players Theater for many years, and I think he would have enjoyed the experience even if he couldn't follow the play very well.
The husband of the couple we stayed with plays in a band and we went to see him in concert on the capital square. He band was joined by drummers and dancers from the Ho Chunk nation, in really impressive costumes. We all enjoyed the concert and the treats we bought from vendors that circle the square. Coy had to find a bathroom twice. We went into the capital building each time. (Wisconsin has to have one of the most public capital buildings in the country! No door security checks, people wandering in and out all the time, taking pictures, using the drinking fountains, er I mean bubblers, and bathrooms.) It was a significant walk from the lawn near the concert to the doors, and even though it was the coolest morning of the week, it really tired Coy out.
There is a great vantage point for watching fireworks not far from our friends' house and to avoid any parking and traffic problems our whole party walked there, with people younger and stronger than I pushing Coy in the wheelchair over very hilly terrain.
We went to a gallery we've been to several times and made some purchases on the way home. I let Coy pick out the paperweight to add to our small collection, and he is very proud to show it off to guests.
The final attraction we stopped at was a Duck ride in the Wisconsin Dells. (You, know, the WWII vehicle for which duck tape was developed.) We had a great dinner and bought some fudge from one of the ubiquitous fudge stores in the Dells to bring home to our son.
It was a worthwhile adventure. I wish we'd both been feeling better, but it worked out OK anyway.
