Kimo's Rules and Murphys laws

No rain no rainbow's Kimo's rules

It never fails no matter how flawless a situation you try to create, the gnomes come in a provide one with a reality check. Having my 78 year old mother travel with us was a new twist in the family unit dynamics. Thank goodness she is spry and flexible since the Airstream decided to initiate her by blowing it’s 12 volt electric system. It was only one circuit but it was the circuit that runs the water system and lights the frig. My mom had a great time watching me scurry frantically around trying to figure out what was wrong and then how to fix it. Welcome to life in an antique Airstream, mom! I was quite proud of her trooper-ness. We lucked out in that the weather stayed cool for her visit. We had fun going to Lake Michigan and pretending it was fun to swim in 40 degree water – brrrrrr. Refreshed and invigorated we hit the trail to Madison,Wisconsin.

Madison has the reputation of being one of the most liberal, happening places in the US and I have to say it lives up to its reputation. Located in central Wisconsin, surrounded by lush farmland and situated directly on 3 lakes, Madison is one beautiful town. Easy to navigate despite the lakes, it has the famous University of Wisconsin, noted for many firsts in the agricultural community. Bless my mother’s heart for wanting to walk a mile….. no wait drive some miles in the Meanderthal rig but the heat and rigors of the road were a bit overwhelming I believe. My first task was to get her to a place she could get home from. Unfortunately flights from here to anywhere are quite pricey and so she decided to drive back to NM. Bon Voyage mom!

Dave, whose house we are staying at, is a good friend of some friends of ours in NM. He and his wife, Jackie and the artist in residence, Dan, have welcomed us and helped us solve some problems we were having with our rig. Dave has a tremendous amount of knowledge about a lot of things including music. When he heard Mariah play, he insisted that she go into the recording studio of a friend of his and “lay down some tracks” so we did. Mariah hadn’t practiced much as she had been away for a few weeks but it sounded pretty good anyway. Very nice studio and Dave’s friend, Jack who was the sound engineer was so helpful, encouraging and knowledgeable. It is nice to see people inspiring Mariah besides mom and dad.

Madison has a tremendous farmers market. 120 vendors and about 30,000 people all milling about peacefully and graciously waiting in ques for their fresh organic produce, fresh, non factory farm raised meats, and lots of baked goods. I love open markets and this one was unforgettable. Lots of people playing music. We had a lovely day popping in and out of the eclectic little shops around State St and then touring the capitol. The capitol building rivals the US capitol in DC. Very ornate and awe inspiring. Mariah insisted we get mall-ed so we went for her sake and now hopefully her wardrobe is complete (ha- fat chance!). We are heading back to the land we started from (South Dakota) today and then south and west so this journal will soon wind to an end and life in the Socorro fast lane will start again. Thanks everyone for being part of our travels and our life. Will send out Kimo’s rules when I find them and we can apply them to all our glitches, triumphs etc.

Hugs from the Meanderthals.

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