DROP 2

Field trip #2 for today works out well because there are 14 of us so we fit in 2 vehicles. Our morning trip was complicated because we had to put 8 in each van. We went birdwatching (with a guide, of course) in the John Muir woods. J.M. was from Wisconsin and those who know that are very proud. We saw several kinds of birds, the most exciting of which for me was a yellowthroat. That was my first one. Others I'd seen before but we also saw several sandhill cranes, one pretty close up so that was cool. Mostly I spent time identifying wildflowers, which I liked because they are prairie flowers, some are different from ours, but they're all open field flowers. I found one plant I absolutely cannot identify so I took lots of pictures and the search is on.

Yesterday we spent lots of time hanging around the house. Kathy, the organizer of these trips, decided we should play indoor badminton, so she rearranged the living room furniture and we did that for a while. Didn't break anything and had plenty of fun. Last night we watched the director's cut of Woodstock, lots of our old music. I looked through the entire yearbook from our senior year. Yes, my old boyfriend really was a cute as I remember. I found the whole thing sort of sad, which surprised me. We're talking about going to our 40th reunion, which is in 2 years. Interesting thought, and wouldn't be bad as long as enough of us went.

The nearest town is Oxford, pop. 350. Tonight in the corner bar there's a Coyote Ugly contest. We're going to a supper club, though, so no dice. Here in the Midwest there are supper clubs--restaurants with big appetizer tables, relaxed atmosphere like a family place. There was one in the North Country that Jamie and I used to go to a lot, then Ralph, Lin and I went to every Friday night. It closed but I think has reopened. It's called the North Country Club--see? a supper club.

Still hot, humid and buggy here. Lots of hungry mosquitos. This afternoon we might go on a Duck ride. Ducks are amphibious vehicles (the kind used in WWII for landing the troops on the shore) and they give you rides around the Dells. The Wisconsin Dells are a series of sandstone chasms through water. It would be great to see sandstone walls again--that's one thing you absolutely do not see in the Northeast, nor is there much limestone.

On to the next stop