So today it was sunny and 38 at 9 AM with a projected high of 48. Ahh, a decent day to putt a county over and fill the Large Lady with corn free petrol and give her a break from the sour mash that for some reason the EPA insists on putting in her diet. Only one small problem, she has a full tank and it is only 30 miles to the closest ethanol free gas station. And that if I take the least direct way there I know of.
Oh, but there is a solution, an even less direct route that I have not yet discovered. So I left this morning with the GPS tuned to the Road Ranger in East Troy and went the opposite direction. Opps, I have a large body of water that impedes the flow of traffic that way, a largish metropolitan area to the north and a monster urban jungle to the south. Damn, now what direction? Got it! Freeway to the other side of the lesser of the evils until once again I am in the dry gasoline counties, then turn left. Run the Lady dry of the sour mash, fill up and return by way of the dry counties so I can top Her off before putting her to bed for the day. I should be back soon to do some chores.
Somehow it did not seem to go as planned. I was well north of my supposed left when the dreaded stumbles started. She can’t be starting to have withdrawals now, I am too far east and corn is still on the menu. Well maybe just a few centavos to get Her out of this miserable forced corn diet local. I then proved my age by filling Her. S#!t, now I need to run this batch of mash though Her so I can start the detox process. I headed West.
Did I mention the PROJECTED high was 48? That was down south by my abode. I had almost made it to Green Bay before my turn west and it was now 11ish. Hmmm, isn’t there a public range over by Freedom? Maybe I should check it out since I am only an hour or so away and I need to warm up the paws a bit anyway. (Why did I not wear the winter gloves?) I found the range and lucky me, they are grilling brats for the masses to partake in at only a $1 each. Even luckier, they carried 10mm auto so I could punch holes in paper from afar. As I was getting ready to leave, I had a few gawkers around the Large Lady. The usual questions, like “what is that thing”, “it must beat you to death”, and from the ones in the know, “nice ride, but a bit nippy today”.
I headed south planning to pick up Hwy 83 somewhere along the way. Did I mention the PROJECTED high was 48? I never saw anything above 42, the liars. I finally got my corn free gas a few miles north of Merton. The sun was dropping fast (along with the temperature) and I was scooting along at a decent clip. The Large Lady was humming sweet lullabies and she just generally seemed to enjoy our little outing. The corn free diet just seems to agree with Her. Even a California Girl seems much friskier when not sodded with sour mash.
I did top off at East Troy and took the direct (okay, sort of direct) route home. I stopped at a meat market and really splurged and bought a couple ribeye for a piece offering to the spousal unit only to discover she was still shopping with one of the daughters when I arrived home. Maybe I will save the steaks for the next time I need a token of peace, like tomorrow when the PROJECTED high is 50.
By the way, it is 36 as I write this.
