July 31, 2010 In De-lish, Photos, Wisconsin

cheese head

Some long time friends of mine moved to Madison abut a year ago. A perfect stop on the way to Alaska to see their new home and catch up. Another friend from back in VA happened also to be visiting this weekend, and yet another in the group of our old pals is in town for work so it’s a big ol’ reunion of fun. We all went to The Old Fashioned in Capital Square for lunch yesterday. The place was packed and staff was friendly. This is where we ordered fried cheese curds for an app. (Yeah, I know. I have blown any kind of balance in my diet during my stay in Wisconsin. Talk about an all-out cheese fest. I’m glad I can still strap on my running shoes and pound the pavement from anywhere for free.) Here’s my sandwich:

Grilled cheese delight at The Old Fashioned

Grilled cheese with cheddar, swiss, hickory smoked red peppers, cukes and tomatoes. This was one of the best fancy grilled cheese sandwiches I have ever had. The fresh local veggies stuffed in there put it in that category. It’s such a spoil to have fresh produce included in what you order in a restaurant. The melty cheese and butter help too of course. As if I wasn’t full enough after that sammy, I had to grab one of their enormous chocolate chip cookies to go. I couldn’t resist! They had plates and plates of these coming out fresh all over the bar area on plates for self-serve. When the bartender said; “That’s one American dollar please!- and help yourself!” I wanted to kiss him. It was delicious. The chocolate chips were still warm and melty as we gobbled it up.

Chocolate chip cookies at The Old Fashioned

I highly recommend this spot if you’re up for lunch out when you visit Madison. The prices are more than reasonable and every last thing coming out of the kitchen looked delicious. The kind of lunch stuffing that you need a nap after. Good food, full belly and catching up with old friends sure makes for a spectacular Friday afternoon!

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July 31, 2010 In Wisconsin

to market to market

I’m off to the biggest farmer’s market in the country around Madison’s Capital Square. What a green and gorgeous place this is. There are more parks and bike paths in this midwest city than you can imagine. There’s certainly no excuse not to get out and be active here. Being from VT I love it. It feels like a slice of home in the summertime with farms abound, miles and miles of corn fields and kids playing outside with grass stained knees.

Off to scour the market. I’ve got some photos of Wisconsin characters I will upload and share later…

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July 30, 2010 In Donations and Sponsorships

yippee, skippy, wahoo!

Imagine my surprise to get this email from my first perfect stranger/Paypal donation since being on the road:

Hi Diane, I noticed you and the BLR-mobile outside the coffee cafe in downtown Cleveland on Monday. Not having known your story, I looked up Blue Lollipop Road when I returned to my desk a little later. I would have liked to introduce myself, but by then you had hit the highway (apparently to Chicago – lucky you!). Some other day, perhaps. In any event, I’m happy to send some gas money to help your adventure farther along – Good Luck! Bill P.

SO AWESOME!

Thank you so much Bill! This means a lot to me and will totally help with the many miles ahead. I hope you will stay in touch and keep following my journey. Your gas donation timing tonight was the perfect boost I needed after I found myself stressing while looking again at maps and distance I still have to go.

Alaska or bust! YEAH!

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July 30, 2010 In Random babble, Wisconsin

lets get ready to rumbaaaaaaaallll!!!

Hello Madison Wisconsin!

Madison!

Even though I was excited about my arrival here and seeing old friends, I ended up sitting at their kitchen table last night looking at maps and mileage to Alaska again feeling like someone just kicked me in the gut and told me there was no such thing as Santa Claus. I still have 2,900 miles and 75 hours driving from here to get to Alaska. Holyfegginsh*t.

Being the last U.S state I will be in before hitting up Canada, The Wisconsin state motto of “Forward” is just what I needed to read this morning after staring blankly at my computer screen last night and the sleepless night that followed. Seeing/knowing and actually doing are oh so different. If I’ve never had this lesson before- oh am I getting one now. I can’t quit. I won’t quit, but I will run out of money either before I get there or as soon as I cross the state line. This is going to make for some crazy good stories. I’ve planned and thought and contacted, but as we all know in life- 90% of “plans” usually get thrown out the window. This last HUGE leg of my trip is likely going to come with me throwing an eff-bomb or 50, some tears, exhaustion, confusion, doubt, loneliness, frustration and all those other words and things that happen when we attempt to reach a goal. (But the wahoo! parts too of course.) I can’t lie, I’m freaking out a little. Ok maybe a lot- but I’ll be damned if my happy ass isn’t standing on the Frontier State line by my 32nd birthday.

Here’s to screw it, just do it and owning all the rewards and consequences along the way. (Am I some kinds of bad-ass? Probably not, but I’m going to try to be anyway.)

“Forward” it is.

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