wedding road trip

Day 35: Road Construction is Not Your Friend

This trip has reminded me of something that I don’t miss from the regular working world: getting up at six in the morning. I remember when I worked for Spleak, a startup company that was based in both Copenhagen and San Francisco, I typically woke up at five thirty in the morning just so I could chat with my Danish friends on MSN Messenger before I jumped on the bus to head downtown to our main office. Now I’m lucky if I can get up before eight without hyperventilating.

We’ve felt sad leaving pretty much everyone that we’ve visited on this trip, but I felt particularly blue about waving goodbye to Jason and Rebecca. Maybe it was the cheap champagne at the Loading Zone, the bountiful food spread at Camille’s, or the suspicious way Jason checked over his shoulder to see if we had Fox New cameras hidden somewhere. I sincerely hope that we all join up again in the near future, whether it be in Wisconsin, California, or points in between. Maybe their kids will have even gotten over being afraid of us by then.

We pointed Roxy due south and started our tour of the lower part of Wisconsin. On our way to see a gang of golden retreiver puppies in Chicago, we took a detour through Madison. While we were only there for about twenty minutes, I am here to tell you that contrary to popular belief, it is not fun to play Dodge the Road Construction before you’ve had your morning coffee. Apparently, summer is THE time to tear up the roads around the University of Wisconsin, leaving cars to drive in slow circles around state monuments saying things like “Big Ben, kids, Parliament.” If you don’t get that movie reference, consider yourself off my Christmas card list.

Madison was just as Madison-y as I expected, with a beautiful view of the capitol in clear focus as we drove into the city. Located between two lakes, there is plenty of waterfront property, which makes the area especially appealing on a warm summer day. Of course, I wouldn’t know what that is, because it’s basically been raining since we arrived in the state two days ago.

A friend of mine asked if Madison is like Austin. I’d have to say on first glance, no. While Madison has architecture that screams Mike Brady era, Austin is a mix of southwestern funk and retro fabulousness. Madison may want to be Austin, but it isn’t yet.

Don’t take it from me, however. I haven’t had my morning coffee yet.

In the Zone

It just wasn’t in the cards to check out the lake on Rebecca and Jason’s super sly boat, given the craptastic weather that Wisconsin decided to deliver us this afternoon. Faced with a dilemma of what to do, Jason suggested that we head to The Loading Zone for a real Wisconsin fish fry later that evening.  Since we’ve been eating so well on this trip, choosing to skip alcohol and sweets in favor of fruits and vegetables, we figured we could cheat just this once.

On Fridays, the Loading Zone is reportedly the hottest place in town. It is so hot, in fact, that thousands of people show up and wait for hours to have a piece of fried cod. Jason let us in on the secret of Wisconsin: waiting until your food is served before leaving the bar to dine at your table. Sure enough, the table next to us was occupied with four servings of fried fish before the requisite people arrived.  Rebecca introduced me to a drink called an Old Fashioned, which basically knocked me on my ass after about four sips.

The highlight of dinner was Geri, our waitress and new best friend. Geri is part of a long line of family members who have made The Loading Zone happen over the past thirty-odd years. She works a floor faster than any server I’ve ever met while still managing to carry on a conversation with each of her guests. A fan of the whole Wedding Road Trip concept, she was quick to offer up some marriage advice of her own: when starting a relationship, become friends first. Geri has been married for more than twenty-five years to the milkman. Yes, the milkman. They now have several kids (at least they know where they came from) and are having a rockin’ good time.

Over dinner, Rebecca, Jason, Chris and I had a discussion about the power exchange  in a relationship. While Rebecca  is the point person as far as the kids go, Jason is now going to work from home one day a week to ease the pressure. After talking to several couples who have come to this same type of compromise, I firmly believe that sharing responsibilities is a key to long-term marital success.

After dinner, we managed to make time to play pool and a little Guitar Hero. I sucked at both, but am proud to say that Chris represented the Case/Hodges clan well. As it stands, we now owe Rebecca and Jason a couple of beers, but we don’t mine ponying up if they promise to be a guest at our home in the near future.