MONROE WI TO MADISON WI

June 2, Tuesday
37 miles

The Hawleys sent us off on our morning ride with tummy full of waffles and hearts full of friendship. We stopped off at the Piggly Wiggly market to get some peanut butter to go with the amazingly healthy bread we had bought the night before. A huge, fresh Boston cream donut was calling my name from the bakery. I was thoroughly enjoying it when a chatty lady shopper came up to visit with us and said "I can't believe you are eating junk food!" Well, in my defense I noticed that she was probably 30 pounds overweight and not riding her bike 1,600 miles up the Mississippi River. :)
We found our way onto the Badger State Trail, a nonmotorized vehicles trail that winds through trees and flowers and is quiet and isolated from civilization. About 16 miles on the trail we came upon a tunnel that looked like something out of a mystery novel. Before entering we stopped to get a picture and then heard a very scary animal cry echoing from the bowels of the tunnel. We looked at each other with apprehension but realized there was no where to go but in. The tunnel was about 1/4 of a mile long and very dark as it turned shortly after the entrance letting no light show the way. Before entering we got out our flashlights and I picked up a rock. I wanted some sort of defense if we met up with the creature that had warned us about entering the tunnel. We were walking our bikes and I said to Rusty "I must say that I am anxious about this." His response "I understand" I think meant "me, too!" As we walked into the darkness we could not see the walls, the floor or the ceiling of the tunnel. Our small flashlights gave us a little sight just a few feet ahead of us. Feeling like I needed a more courage I started to sing "I Am A Child of God" and Rusty joined in whistling. It was amazing how the words of that Primary song brought peace. "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way." I had thoughts of how our Savior does that for us every day of our lives as we travel through life which can be so dark sometimes. After what seemed like hours we saw the light at the end of the tunnel and puddles of water to walk through.
A few miles on down the trail we went off into the town of Belleville for lunch and bought a Wisconsin State Bike Trail pass for $20. A daily pass was $4. A pamphlet about the trails describes the tunnel we had just passed through and recommended walking your bike and taking a flashlight. Yes, we'd recommend that, too!
At the end of our day's ride we made our way through the busy streets of outskirts of Madison and found the closest motel which turned out to be another adventure. The price was right but the bars at the front desk indicated that someone felt the need for added protection. There were signs i.e. "No Visitors 10:30p to 7:00A. Strictly enforced!" and "No parties after 10:30". This motel was not just for overnight guests but for long term residents as well. I'm figuring the latter made up the majority.
Someone knocked on our door about 9:00p and I opened it to a "homeless looking man" with a large plastic bag of cans. With the door open he just started to come right on in. Rusty said "Can we help you?" He said he had been told to come talk to Smitty. No Smitty here! but that didn't seem to dissuade him until we repeated it a couple of times and he looked around and the room and realized Smitty really wasn't there.. He was very apologetic and I was a little anxious...again.
Later in the night after we had gone to sleep the phone rang and then there was a knock on the door. Again at 3:00Am the phone rang. I think someone was in search of Smitty who probably used to live in room #25.

Side Note: Rusty thinks that the noise in the tunnel was a kid who was being paid to make weird sounds to scare people using the path and add some "local color".