The next morning it’s raining cats and dogs. I drive to Green Bay, it clears up. Highways first. Dead animal on the side of the road, burst tyre, dead animal, at regular intervals of a mile. Then on to country roads. That’s what I borrowed the car for. I constantly have to brake for beavers, foxes, pheasants, deer. Hawks circle in thermal updrafts. Yellow signs warn of strange animals (see right) It’s hot and humid just before Canada.
I drive through some Indian reservations. Casinos, petrol stations, tobacco and alco shops. Everything is cheaper than outside the reservations. The revenge of the red man, at last. Everything is labelled with the tribe’s name: we are.
Wild rivers. A constant up and down of roads through moraine landscapes. Swamps, forests, 1000 lakes and endless expanses. I feel like Captain Kirk and ponder the next logbook entry. No other car for hours.
The day before the 4th of July, every town has at least one firework stand. And everyone advertises that they have the thickest just-as-legal things. The holiday resorts on the lakes are well booked. Megadeth follows Elton John on the radio. And Scorpions over and over again. Horrible. But plenty of choice. This is the end of the world. And it has 10 times more good radio stations than any major German city. I’m not even talking about the urban centres here.
As of today, there are Google Maps with precise maps of the tour. I work my way up the smallest country roads to the Canadian border. A truck in front of me hurls a stone at my windscreen. I have the resulting crack in the windscreen repaired in Ashland…and hopefully I’ll get my money back.
The last 100 miles before Duluth I take a detour to the Apostle Islands peninsula in Lake Superior. At the end of the world there’s a handwritten sign on the side of the road: B.B. King tonight 7:30. It’s a joke, right? I drive up the mountain. After three miles, a printed poster confirms the joke. Two hours before the concert, there are just 30 people there. But 70-150$ is too much for me. I continue west along the coast. Fog rises over Lake Superior.
After a total of 9 hours driving time and a good 500 miles, I have almost crossed the whole of Wisconsin. My brain is mud, interspersed with images that have flown by far too quickly. I’m looking for a WiFi spot. No hospitality club stay for today. The first motel wants $90, the second $50 and I check into the third for $35. My wallet continues to shrink far too quickly.
Then I look for another hotspot for almost an hour. Have to do some work. Drive through the city and scan like mad. Nothing, nowhere. At 9.00 pm I realise: shit, my wifi was switched off. I’m frustrated. Travelling is very expensive and exhausting right now. Tomorrow is the fourth of July. I don’t have any private accommodation. If I find anything free at all, it will cost at least 80$. I think I need a sleeping bag…
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.