home away from home: Madison, WI

     Our main drive for visiting Madison was to see our good friend Kate’s parents Linda and Jack.  We could not have asked for a more inviting welcome complete with hugs, stories and a big plate of home-made vegan cookies!  In fact, they were so warm and welcoming and the weather outside was so dreary (wet, cold, grey) that we spent our first full day in Madison inside drinking tea, reading, relaxing and  filling our ears with Linda’s stories.  After being on the road for weeks, dashing from place to place, walking and biking all around cities, constantly locating and relocating places and things, not to  mention freezing in Chicago, we were due for a little R&R and the Woodfords provided us with the perfect opportunity.  Chelsea took the time to made friends with the illusive “Baby”, the Woodfords loveable but shy Kitty and even Frida made herself at home in the driveway,and got a little frosty one cold Wisconsin morning!

When we did venture into town, we discovered a busy little city full of friendly people, engaging shops and more“co-eds”.  We explored State street and stopped in at a few of the hip places on the more residential “Willy” Street.   Among other things we quickly noticed that Madison not only had a thriving bike community (especially the University of Wisconsin campus and surrounding area) but also an observably high population of (vespa)scooters!

   On State street, the main drag reserved for people, bikes and the occasional delivery truck, we discovered several engaging places.  At the Good Will we amused ourselves contemplating Halloween costumes and Zach got a cheap and stylish coat.  In A Room of One’s  Own, an extensive feminist bookstore we browsed at length.  Iris picked up 10,000 dresses for her children’s book collection and Chelsea discovered Girl Drive an awesome feminist cross-country compilation.  Next we stopped over at the co-operatively run Community Pharmacy, which was a thing of beauty. a dedicated space for natural remedies and products alongside information, books, an impressive female health section as well as a fully operational “traditional” prescription-filling pharmacy.  A rare find, right on Madison.  

Our visit to Madison was made complete by a couple conversations with the lovely Kate (currently living in Lima, Peru), a driving tour of the neighborhood she grew up in, and a question quenching supply of Kate stories from Linda.   By the end of our stay we felt like part of the family.  Reluctant to leave our home away from home we said our goodbyes and forged on to Kansas City.the bean counter
miles traveled: 131
pieces of snail mail sent: 12
number of vespas spotted: 107
mullets: 0