If you can remember back to the Day 1 part, it ended just after my wife and I discovered that the "queen-size" bed we had reserved was the size of a double bed. But we were tired and just wanted to go to bed. Day 2 was a very busy one going here and there in Oshkosh.
Day 3 was the day of our trip home. That morning, I looked at the bed and decided it had not grown a few inches while we were there. So I went downstairs and looked for the manager. After all, I had paid for queen-size bed, and I didn't get it.
No, no, no, the manager said. All our rooms with one bed have queen-size beds. I told him about the refrigerator and microwave that were missing when we arrived at the room (also promised in the room description; the microwave never showed up). In the end, the manager said he could come up for a look.
In a few minutes, he was at the door. He took me across the hall to a room with two beds--both double beds. Then, back to our room. But the beds there were the same size as the ones I had just seen! But he insisted that it was a queen-size bed--because (all together now) "All our rooms with one bed have queen-size beds." Foolish me
I let him know that this must be the world's smallest queen-size bed, identical in size to those across the hall. And then I let it drop. I've never been a whiner or a complainer, and I didn't about to become one today. I'll just advise one of you that if you ever plan to visit Oshkosh, Wis., stay somewhere other than the Super 8. He sure won't see us again.
We got our breakfast and hit the road, bound for the Best Buy in Appleton, about 20 miles up the road. A major part of the trip (as explained earlier) involved getting a new work camera for me (since mine had died earlier in the week). On Day 1, we saw a nice package (camera + telephoto zoom lens) at the Best Buy in Green Bay. I hoped the Best Buy in Appleton had the same deal. If so, it would save me a little time and a few miles because I could then drive straight north from Appleton.
No such luck. They had the camera, but not the sale package advertised. So we headed northeast to the Best Buy in Green Bay, and there it was. I called the office on my cell phone, got the go-ahead, and a few minutes later was checked out and on my way.
That was our last stop before heading for home. But I had seen something on the trip south that I wanted to check out on the trip north. About an hour up the road, we came upon it.
On June 7 this year, northern Wisconsin had a major outbreak of severe weather. Up where I live, we just got a little rain, but south of us there were severe thunderstorms, large hail and tornadoes. One tornado passed right across Wisconsin Highway 32, the road we traveled two months later. It was easy to see where ...
That was the town hall.
According to a special report on the Green Bay National Weather Service site:
| The tornado was on the ground for at least 40 miles, and was over 1/2 mile wide at times. Over 14000 acres of trees were snapped or flattened and many dozens of buildings were damaged or destroyed. The twister was rated an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with estimated winds of 140 to 160 mph. Damage by this tornado alone exceeded $15 million (property and timber). |
If you look at the NWS website, you'll see that the tornado left a path that was easily photographed from a satellite orbiting the earth.
While walking around with my camera, I stepped wrong and landed on the gravel shoulder of the road, scratching up my lower leg. A little blood, but not bed.
After that stop and a very late lunch (about 2:30 p.m.), we were back home, greeting our kitties and checking the mail and messages on the phone. Vacation was over. The next morning, I was back at the office and then driving over to football practices. Vacation's over! Get back to work!
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A few other notes.
The first high school football games of the season will be played tomorrow night. Both our local teams are at home. One game starts an hour earlier than the other. I'll got there first, stay for the first quarter and then drive to the other game, new camera in hand. Now I will finally find out how well it will capture the action from night football games.
We got a little rain two days ago and a sprinkle today. On the whole, though, our weather remains very dry, and our lawns remain brownish-greenish yellow. Off to our south--the southern half of Wisconsin--they are getting hammered with heavy rainstorms and flooding. Some places, like Madison, have had 16+ inches of rain in the last seven days. People have died from the flooding. Up here? Less than a quarter inch! And that's the way it's been all summer.
Nothing new about the house. We worked down there on Wednesday. Took some things to St. Vinny's, gave some items to a friend of my mom's, and we brought some other things to my mom (to give to a distant relative she has stayed close with). We took other things home with us.
There really is very little at the house now, aside from the furniture, and the new couple said they are interested in some of it. My wife wants some of the pieces. But if she does, we have to make room for it, which means getting rid of other stuff. We've got all these boxes all over the place, you know. A lot more than when we started down there.
While it's not widespread, the leaves are starting to turn color up here. Just parts of trees, mainly maples, are going red, and the ferns I see along the roadside are becoming brown. The air has cooled a bit. The end of summer is on its way.
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