Augusta, WI
Up late as usual on Saturday (28th), we breakfasted and disconnected quickly and pulled out by 10:30 -- back up US-41 to WI-22, where we encountered a couple of rather long detours. Then across WI-29 (which is almost as dull a drive as OH-15) around Wausau to WI-27 south to Eau Claire county ND. ND turned out to be a rutty gravel road under construction -- we proceeded at 10 mph until we finally got back to the Sandy Hill Campground north of Augusta (we have discussed this campground in past years, so will not repeat that information here). We phoned Lew's aunt Irene, only to discover that cousin Kathy had left on the 27th, so we missed her. But Irene was her usual hospitable self and invited us over that evening or Sunday afternoon.

Sunday (29th) we slept late and did the usual morning routine. So it was not until after lunch that we made it to Irene's. Her daughters Francie and Liz already were there. However, Francie had a very sick dog and left rather soon. First Bobbi asked for directions to some of the area places where we needed to go. Then we all passed on the news about the absent family members, reminisced about our visit last summer, and told them more details about the part of our trip last summer after we left Eau Claire. All went well until Irene mentioned genealogy -- at which time Liz rolled her eyes and left to do some other projects.

Irene started to quiz Lew about the Lindner side of his family, and after a while got him to go in and enter the data on her computer. Lew got started, then realized that his memory of many things was rather hazy, so fired up his own computer. At this point Irene announced that she had fixed supper, so Lew quit and joined the other two at the table. Afterwards there was only enough time to close down, and then Bobbi and Lew had to leave because sunset was fast approaching, and they had not yet downloaded their email for the day. So they drove the short distance to Panera's for that purpose, then refueled and got back to the campground with just enough time to walk the dogs before it became dark.

Monday afternoon (30th) Lew had to take the van in to Markquart Chevie to have the oil changed. While it was there, the mechanic discovered that the rear axle seals were leaking and had sprayed oil all over the brakes. This meant a substantial repair, so Lew had to leave the van overnight. The dealer was kind enough to provide Lew with a loaner (a "Silverado", a pickup with a big hood to look over and a suspension by Cadillac), so Lew drove back to the campground where he had left Bobbi and the dogs.

Tuesday (31st) we could not lie abed -- we had to be in the southwestern part of Eau Claire by 10:30 (local time) in order to have Bobbi's fractured metatarsal x-rayed. As that was finishing, Lew phoned Markquart Chevrolet to check on the truck repairs. The service advisor told him it had just been finished ten minutes before, so we could pick it up. We set out immediately for the shop. When we arrived we transferred the dogs and our bags to the van, after which Lew turned in the rental. Then Lew paid for the repairs, and we were off down US-53 towards the mall.

At the mall Bobbi went into Panera's to pick up lunch, while Lew used their WI-FI to pick up email. Then across the street into the mall, where Bobbi purchased some badger T-shirts, and back across into "Wally World". This pretty well used up the day, so it was back to the campground.

After our usual late rising and slow start, on Wednesday morning (1 August) Bobbi wanted to go into town (Fall Creek) to mail something at the post office, and to shop at Weaver's, an Amish store that specializes in bulk groceries. After lunch Bobbi did some more laundry and read chick-lit, while Lew journaled and worked on this file.

Thursday (the 2nd) was needed for some planning and organization. We rose late, as usual. Bobbi phoned Ft. Wilkins SP and discovered (as expected) that we could not get a campsite until Sunday -- so she reserved a site for the next two weeks. She than gossiped with our host and found out about campgrounds in NE Wisconsin -- not optimistic because he said they don't cater to travelers; rather, they will be full of kids. So she reserved a place at one of them for Saturday night. She decided that until then, we would stay a couple of extra days at this campground.

That settled, after lunch we all piled into the van to search for WI-FI. Weaver's WI-FI turned out to be off. In Fall Creek neither the post office nor the public library had WI-FI, or could tell us where to get it. So it was off once again to the Panera's in Eau Claire. At least that meant Bobbi could eat out for supper. But once we were finished, it was back to the campground for showers, snack, and bed.