That night I headed back to my tent in the backyard of a guy who owned a suprisingly good used cd store in Waupaca. It's really cool to see kids in small towns in Wisconsin getting there hands on good music. That whole city was really one suprise after another though, and it left a really good taste in my mouth. A very short lived good tast though. The next days ride went pretty smoothly other than the tape holding up my rear rack tearing out. Yes, I realize that duck taping a bike together isn't a good idea, but like I've said before this tour was never about comfort. 
REPAIR!
That day was pretty long and hot. The ride to Appelton was full of Jesus and Pro-life billboards, broken down trucks in field, and old barns. I couldnt help but pray that everything went smoothly because if I had to ask for help at one of those houses chances were I wouldnt be coming out alive. I finally got into Appelton and had to ride in along a busy 4 lane, which nearly made me shit myself. My hatred for cars only increased on the road. It becomes alot more tangible that when you are riding alone you feel complelty at peace with whats going on around you. Then when you go through a town and are immediatly honked at, drove by, harassed, and your life is on the line resentment begins to grow. 
When I finally got a chance to stop in Appelton I called Bones to see if he knew anyone in town to hook me up with a place. I got a few numvbers called them and ended up staying at the BFG with Ryan Amos and Hart from Wartorn and Tenement. I dropped off my gear and rode around for a while. I eneded up falling asleep in a park for a while, realizing just hopw fucking tired I was. When I got back to the house Hart and Ryan had made some pasta and hooked me up big time. After that we just kind of hung out and hart and sam showed me around town. It's really cool to see a place that has got it's shit together so well. Its the kind of thing that makes you want to do alot more than you are doing. It also makes me more bummed that so many good people leave this town so often, and wonder what we could do if everyone stayed. Unfortunetly in a town like this thats not usually an option. Its awesome to see alot of people willing to help eachother out, and try to do something productive. It makes me want to drop my lease and rent a house, start a garden, and throw shows. But sometimes you're just stuck doing what you can. The next day I woke up early and hit the road getting all turned around on my way out, but eventually making it out. The ride to Manitowac was pretty miserable. Windy and overcast with the clouds threatening to pour down on me.
I saw this glove laying along side the road in the middle of nowhere. It's good to see I'm not the only one riding these roads.Manitiowac seemed to taunt me and the closer I got the more shit seemed to go wrong. My chain falling off, dropping water bottles, gear coming lose, and lots of cars. Climbing the last hill into town my chain fell off one last time, 100ft. from the lake. I threw it on as fast as I could, hammered it and there it was. I had finally made it to the lake.
I rode out to the pier and stared at the lake for almost an hour before I pulle dout my camera took pictures, and ate some lunch. I rode to the nearest sand and waded in the freezing water while a ship sailed out. It was a really good feeling to see somethig so big and realize that you got there complelty on your own. All of these tourists around you drove there SUVs to see a wonders of nature which they are destroying, and you did it with nothing but your legs. I finally headed downtown, and my illusions were shattered. I realized very quickly that manitowac is a tourist town and lots of the people didn't take kindly to a stranger looking for food, and a place to stay. I eventually found my way to a cool little art store and the women running the store tried to help me out, recomended some places to scope out, and took my number saying she would try to help out. I rode and the sky started getting darker, and the temperature dropped so I decided I better set up camp. I went to a park in town and found a nicve secluded place in the woods to set up camp next to the zoo. I cooked a small cup of soup and prepared for the storm when I got a call from a stranger offering a roof over my head and a couch for the night.
This guy told me stories about his time in WWII for almost an hour. The best was him telling me about riding bikes through paris with absolutly nothing on the streets around him. 
Tags on the lighttower in Manitowac.
I made my way to the house and was met by a bunch of people, a beer and lots of talking. We hung out and had a really good time, comparing the places we live and talking about how wierd of a town Manitowac was. As the night went on people came and left. A couple of us walked out to the light house at night and I geeked out to see a light house actually doing it's job, not just being a ceramic figurine at a thrift store. It was cool to see how people lived out on the lake, and the stories of what it's like growing up next to it. It was also really wierd to see how different peoples lifestlyes are even when they only live 20 miles apart. just outside of manitowac are farms and cows and field, but when you get into the city it's totally focused on the commerce from the lake, and farming is hardly an afterthought. We hung out at the light house for a while and got a call that some food was ready. Got back to the apartment and ate a bunch of spaghetti watched some tv and I crashed. 
The next day was miserable. Rain was falling when I woke up. I said my goodbyes to me new friends and hit the road. Things just got worse. The wind picked up outside of town, and rain kept coming and going. The high temperature for the day was 48degrees, and I kept taking layers on and off to adjust. The ride was only 30 miles but took me around 4 and a half hours due to the 30mph headwinds. I've never spent so much time in first gear in my entire life. I ended up needing to take detour because I ran into a nuclear power plant. and they closed off a bunch of raods to the public after 9/11 due to the "terror threat" lame.
I finally made it into keawaunee tired, hungry, and wet. I got a cup of coffee from a local cafe, but the town was really dead, which made me realize the dire of my situation. I finally gave in and decided to look for a hotel room for the night. The first place I went were complete pricks and refused to budge on their price of $80 a night. When I left I saw this old Inn on the lake and decided it was worth a shot. When I walked in I notice that they were obviously re-decorating and doing alot of work on the place, this is a good sign. I went to the desk and asked if there was any chance at getting a cheap room in exchange for working for a while. I got lucky. The owner explaind that he had just moved there from Chicago, where he grew up racing track bikes, and touring. We talked for a while and then I went to work doing laundry for about three hours.
After a while the owner came by and told me to forget about paying him, because I had worked it off. Then he sent me downtown to go to a restraunt which he also owned and get whatever I wanted from the menu. When I got back I did a little more work, wanderd around the place and wnet to my room. As luck would have it I got the cowboy themed room complete with horse shoes on the wall, cowboy boots, a cow skull, and a guitar. But the most important part was the two queen sized beds. Heaven. 
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