Tuesday, July 11, 2000

Today we got up late, ate a non-existent continental breakfast (it consisted of donut holes and juice). We should have eaten breakfast at a regular restaurant but we goofed as usual and went directly from the motel to the Circus World Museum. We arrived shortly after 9:00 AM and did not leave until 1:00 PM. It was an enjoyable time, including a small Circus show.

The Baraboo River runs through the center of the Circus World Museum. Because of all the rain that has fallen in this area of Wisconsin, the river was very muddy, swift, and very high. The only food we ate were skimpy sandwiches that we bought at a concession stand. We then rode our bicycle from Baraboo WI to Lodi WI, a distance of 21 miles. It was not a difficult ride except for the first couple of miles where we climbed about 500 feet. A creek along side the road had jumped its banks during the rainstorms the previous days. One house had its driveway washed out and the creek almost washed away another house. It appeared as though the creek had changed its main channel. At Merrimac WI we took a ferry across the Wisconsin River, which also appeared to be very high.

Just as we arrived in Lodi, I discovered that we had another rear tire flat. When I fixed the flat, I discovered that the rim strip was not covering another of the spoke holes and this caused the flat. I took my time and made sure that the rim strip is now covering all of the spoke holes. I do not want to fix any more flats. We had to ride into town for supper tonight, and low and behold, we came out of the restaurant to discover another rear flat tire.